May 28, 2018

Murrina Quilt - Stash Statement Blog Hop

Have you seen Stash Statement, the new book by My Quilt Infatuation's Kelly Young?
The book is absolutely beautiful and I was honoured when Kelly asked if I'd be part of the blog hop to introduce each of the quilts. I chose to make Murrina, after being assured by Kelly that it is much easier to make than it looks. Thankfully, she was right!

All of the quilts in the book are made by sewing scraps together to make large improv panels that are then cut to the sizes needed. You can read my thoughts on sewing the scraps together here. The short version? I really enjoyed the process and I'm looking forward to doing it again, especially since my scrap bag is still full and there are other quilts in the book that I want to make.

And now, after many sneak peeks, here's my finished Murrina quilt 😊
Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com

Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
 With all the negative space in this design, I knew it would be a great place to highlight a beautiful batik and I'm so glad the people at Island Batik agreed to send me all of this loveliness.
Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com

Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I debated whether or not to share the story behind this fabric choice since it makes me look foolish, but in the interests of keeping it real, here goes...When Katie at Island Batik agreed to sponsor the background and backing, she asked which fabric I wanted and I immediately sent her the SKU number for a gorgeous blue. A few days later I wanted to check something about the fabric, which is when I realized I had sent her the WRONG NUMBER! I was looking at thumbnail pictures of the fabrics and I had copied the number below the picture when I should have taken the number above it. Insert forehead smacking emoji here. After a few moments of staring at my computer in disbelief, I ran to my stash and pulled out a length of pink and threw some of my scrappy blocks on it to see if they'd work with what I had accidentally requested. To my relief, it did work. Phew. Even better, I loved the fabric when it arrived!

And, since I had made my scrappy blocks with no plan for what I would use as the background, there are a lot of blue scraps in them. That might have made the blocks a little less distinct, as you can see happens when some reds or pinks are at the edge of the blocks.
Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com

Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the top came together, even with Kelly's assurances. It looks like a complicated quilt, but it isn't at all. There are a lot of pieces, but some of them are really big, so it doesn't take long to piece a big block 😊

With some Warm and Natural batting and Aurifil thread (2600 for the blocks and 2530 for the background), it was time to get quilting. I quilted around the edge of each snowball block and then worked my way in to the center in a spiral. These small snowball blocks were satisfyingly fast to quilt!
Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com

Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I already wrote about quilting those straight lines, so I won't say much about that here. I will say that a few people suggested that lowering the pressure on my presser foot would help with the pleats, but unfortunately that isn't an option on my machine. I guess I'll just have to be more careful as I plan my quilting in the future.

While I was quilting those many lines, I found this...
Murrina quilt fix | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I have no idea how it happened, though it looks like it was either the water erasable pen I was using to mark registration lines, or the edge of the ruler I was using to keep them straight, since it is exactly on the drawn line. Neither makes sense, though. I have felt all along the ruler and can't find any sharp spots and the pen has a soft tip, so I can't see it tearing the fabric. A few deep breaths later, I kept quilting while I pondered how I would fix the problem.

Eventually, I decided to cut a heart out of the background fabric and glue it over the tear. I used the pen to outline the edge of the heart so that I could see it and then I stitched twice around the edge.
Murrina quilt fix | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
Here's how it looks after the pen marks were washed away.
Murrina quilt fix | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
You can't see it from a distance, so it's a little surprise detail for anyone who looks really closely 😊

Also while I was quilting, I was on the lookout for teeny little pieces in the snowball blocks. Because the scraps were pieced in large chunks and then cut to size, some of the pieces are ridiculously small. Here are some of my favourites...
Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com

Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
A scrappy binding seemed the perfect way to finish this quilt, so I pulled out my bag of leftover binding pieces and joined them together. I left out any red or pink pieces, so the binding wouldn't disappear into the background, but anything else was fair game.
Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I purposely didn't join two pieces that were the same colour, just to keep it looking really scrappy. And then, when I stitched it to the quilt, the ending piece and the starting piece were both black with white dots! Go figure. I (very briefly) considered cutting the last piece off and adding in another fabric, but that seemed like too much work when I was so close to finishing, so the two black and whites meet. Oh well!
Murrina quilt | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
Thanks for inviting me to be part of the blog hop, Kelly! I had so much fun making this quilt and you can be sure I'll be playing with this improv technique again 😊

Yvonne, at Quilting Jetgirl, has also made a version of the Murrina quilt, so be sure to check that out. Her quilt and mine are nothing alike (judging from her progress pictures) so I can't wait to see it!

Phew! This has been a really long post, hasn't it? Well, this is it for me, but I highly recommend you hop around to everyone else who has made a quilt from Kelly's book. But be warned - you may find yourself highly inspired to play with scraps, lol! Here's the full schedule:

4/16- Grand Bazaar    Shelley @ Cora's Quilts
                                    Connie @ Freemotion by the River

                           Diann @ Little Penguin Quilts

4/30- Precarious  Jess @ Quilty Habit                       
                             Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts
                                                            
5/7- Beach Retreat  Sarah @ Sarah Goer Quilts                               
                                 Liz @ Savor Every Stitch 
                                                           
5/14- Fire Pit   Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts                                          
                         Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts
                                                            
5/21- Detour    Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts                         
                         Shelley @ The Carpenter's Daughter Who Quilts
                                                            
5/28- Murrina    Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl             
                            Leanne @ Devoted Quilter
                                                            
6/4- Scattered    Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal                      
                           Christine @ Triangles and Squares 
                                                            
6/11- Bloom Chicka Boom   Chris @ made by ChrissieD            
                                               Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty
                                                            
6/18- Regatta   Susan @ Quilt Fabrication                             
                          Debbie @ A Quilter's Table    
                          Christa @ Christa Quilts
                                                            
6/25- Catch a Falling Star  Cynthia @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework        
                                              Anja @ Anja Quilts
                                                            
7/2- College Prep   Hilary @ by Hilary Jordan                 
                                Lori @ Crossquilt
                                                            
7/9- Take Flight (bonus digital pattern)  Kelli @ Seriously, I Think It Needs Stitches 
                                                                 Paula @ The Sassy Quilter


Have a great week!


Linking up with Sarah's Show Me Something Improv

19 comments:

  1. I love how your version of Murrina finished, Leanne! It was such a treat to know we were sewing the same pattern at the same time. I think that the pink batik is stunning for the background and some of your pieces are very, very tiny. The scrappy binding was a great choice, and how ironic that the two joining fabrics were both black with white dots!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your quilt makes me think of bubbles floating on the breeze! Congratulations on another great finish Leanne I really like the scrappy binding it was the perfect finishing touch.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Super background fabric even if chosen by accident. Love your version of the quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fantastic "mistake", I love your pink batik background! I had a thought on your tear...once I was marking some lines and I slid my ruler so I could continue the line and the corner of the ruler got caught on the fabric. Maybe that's the cause of the tear? Quick thinking on your part to make a great fix!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's a stunning quilt Leanne and I think the pink is awesome. Also as Yvonne's quilt is blue it's nicer for the hop to have a different colour to see. It's a beautiful beautiful finish.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The back ground worked out perfectly! It does look like a complicated quilt design...and I love that it isn't!

    ReplyDelete
  7. LOVE your heart fix....very clever!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your Murrina quilt is just gorgeous, Leanne! That pink batik is just perfect in the background (and what a clever fix with the heart), and I am so happy you found the pattern to be as easy as I promised. Thank you so much for participating in the blog tour and helping me launch my book.

    :) Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  9. This verson of Murrina is so much fun. Love the way you dealt with your problems, and seeing those little pieces is quite fun!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your quilt is beautiful with the red background and that is one of my favorite Island Batik fabrics!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fabulous way to fix an quilt anomaly!

    ReplyDelete
  12. A beautiful quilt, Leanne. I love the story about the background fabric...I thought I was the only one who made mistakes like that!! I like that you showed so great closeups. I have the book and man, do I have scraps! So I guess I need to pick a pattern and get started.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love this ❤️❤️❤️❤️ It’s bright and happy looking. Great job. It brings a smile to my face.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the background -- it's so bright. Great finish. I haven't found a great place for a photo shoot for my quilt, so boring backyard photos it will be. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  15. such a beautiful quilt, you may have gotten the "wrong" fabric, but if that is wrong I wouldn't want to be right.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, you saved this quilt a couple of times or maybe it saved you. Either way, it's one fabulous save! Fantastic finish!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I really like this quilt. All the scraps are accentuated by your design. I admire your even straight quilting, too.
    The scrap binding is the creme de la creme.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is so colorful and it’s beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  19. What an awesome quilt. Love the scraps with the red background.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave me a message. I love hearing from you.