Big Red Finish

I was able to finish up my red strings quilts.  They are for my February goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes (link #5) which was to make something with my red fabric.  I absolutely love how they turned out.  (Just ignore the dead grass.)  ;o)  I blogged about the piecing of them here.  And the finish post for the table runner is here. 

The first quilt I finished is the smaller one.  I have named it "Roses are Red."  Thanks to my friend Jessica for coming up with the name.  It is for my sister-in-law L. 

It has red music notes on the back and my new favorite corner label. 

It looks great in my kitchen, so I will be sure to tell her that if she doesn't like it that I will keep it.  ;)

Quilt Stats #90
Name:  Roses are Red
Pattern:  Altered from this tutorial
Fabric:  Reds from my stash
Amount used: 4.5 yards
Batting:  Warm and White
Size:  about 40 x 52 inches
Date finished:  February 2012
What I learned:

• Reds bleed even with color catchers.  (More about that at the end.)
• This is a great use for strings. 
• I like the 3.5 inch cut strips between the 5 inch cut coins.

The second quilt I finished was the bigger one.  I call it "Rich in Love," because with all those red coins I must be rich, right?

The backing is this totally fun autumn and winter fabric. 

It also has my new favorite corner label. 

I made the label from a 5 inch square which I folded in half and sewed in with the binding. 

I wrote on the label on top of my sand paper board.  I used my new glow-line tape to mark one half inch from the edge so I wouldn't write in the seam allowance.  I will be doing this on most of my quilts from now on. 

I quilted in the ditch around the stacks of coins on both quilts. 

On the small quilt, I used a red Aurifil thread because of the red backing.  On the larger quilt, I used a cream Aurifil thread because of the lighter backing.  The quilts drape really nice, which is good because the larger one is a cuddle quilt. 

I will be keeping my larger quilt on the sofa throughout different months of the year... February, July, and December. 

Except when it gets taken off the sofa for things like this...

And this...

By the way, we call this the "Stomp of Approval."  Most quilts get initiated in this way. 

Quilt Stats #91
Name:  Rich in Love
Pattern: An uneven stacked coins quilt
Inspired by: This scrappy quilt
Fabric:  Reds and creams from my stash
Amount Used:  8 yards
Batting:  Warm and White
Size: About 60 x 80 inches
What I learned:

• This is a great use for strings.
• Reds bleed even with color catchers.  (More on this later.)
• Sometimes simple quilting is best for me. 
• I love, Love, LOVE my new corner labels. 

I joked around thinking that I should have never hung my sister-in-law's quilt in the kitchen, because it looks so good there.  But I do love the way my older Cross My Heart quilt looks there.  :D

When talking with my sister-in-law, I asked her if she wanted me to prewash the quilt for her.  She said, "Yes."  So after taking these pictures, I put both quilts in the wash with color catchers.  The reds still bled.  So I am off to the quilt shop to purchase Synthrapol.  According to Cynthia of Quilting is More Fun than Housework, it should do the trick.  Here is her post about using Synthrapol.  Wish me luck! 

I just wanted to add that the Synthrapol didn't change anything.  Every time I washed the quilt the cream turned more and more peachy pink.  So I gave up.  I think it must have had something to do with the cream print.  It just sucked up the dye.  It doesn't look bad, but it is not the look I was going for.  My sister-in-law still loves hers and plans to hang it up in her basement, and I have still been enjoying it on my sofa. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.