Framed Quilts Finished

It is no secret that I enjoy making quilts that are pieced simply so that I can spend more time playing with the quilting.  When I saw the "Big Square" quilt in Christina Cameli's first book, First Steps to Free Motion Quilting, I knew I wanted to make at least one.  Well, I made three and can see myself making more.  The difference is that Christina's pattern is for a "Big Square" and I like rectangular quilts.  So I altered her pattern by making the top and bottom borders bigger.  Since it was no longer a square, I started calling these my "Framed Quilts."  The center panels have some really big frames.  These quilts all finish about 40 by 50 inches.

The first quilt was made from a fat quarter of Jungle Party fabric which I saved for this quilt when making animal quilts last year.  I just couldn't bring myself to cut the cute print into four inch strips.

I quilted this on the Bernina Q24 with a spiky spiral which reminds me of claws.  I thought it was a good design for a little boy quilt.  The center panel is quilted with a medium stipple.

The quilting design was so big that it was a bit difficult to fit it around the center panel on the long arm.  It would have been easier for me on my sit down machine.

I bound the quilt in the same blue as the inner border.

It is simple, but I think it turned out really cute.

The second quilt used some cute Riley Blake princess fabric I have used on a couple other projects.  The center is actually a rectangle because I had enough fabric to make it a little bigger.

It was quilted on the Bernina Q24.  I quilted spirals in the center, loops in the inner border, and wild quilting in the border.  This improv style of machine quilting made it really easy to quilt around the framed section on a long arm machine.  I could just use a design that would fit whatever space was there.  It was so much fun to quilt like that!

Instead of a collection of closed designs (like on this table runner), I used open FMQ designs that echoed.  I quilted spirals, flowers, hearts, leaves, paisleys, and anything else I felt like in the moment.  They all played really well together.

The binding is the same blue as the inner border.

I really love this one and hope a little girl will as well.

The third quilt used part of a Snail Trail panel I bought on clearance at my LQS a few years ago.  Other parts of the panel were used in a stripe quilt I made last year.

I also quilted this one on the Bernina Q24 with wild quilting in the large solid border.

The difference is that I quilted spirals in the center of the large flowers, inspired by the flowers in the panel.

The princess quilt had a simple loop in the center of the big flowers.

I really like the spiral flower centers.

I bound the quilt in a darker green.

I didn't piece an inner border because the panel had its own wonky borders.

It is such a bright, cheerful quilt!

All three of these framed quilts will most likely be donated to Primary Children's Hospital at Christmastime this year.  The solid fabrics were purchased earlier this year when a quilt shop nearby was closing.  The solids were by Moda and Riley Blake, but I don't remember the names.

I look forward to playing with the open/echoed wild quilting designs some more.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar.  Check them out for more quilty inspiration.