Wine Gums

/ Thursday 10 December 2009 /
The Values quilt is finished, and I love it!  Can words express how in love with this quilt I am?  The name of this quilt is Wine Gums, since that's what those darker diamonds remind me of.  Let me just show you some photos.
Values quilt is finished
DSC_0007
The Amy Butler flannel (Paradise Garden in wine, from the Love line) was glorious to work with.  Contrary to my expectations, it didn't fuzz up too much or fray or cause any quilting problems.  I sprayed it with Mary Ellen sizing before assembling, but I don't really think that made too much difference.  I had planned to use spray starch, but forgot to buy any.  The flannel does add to the weight of the quilt, in a delicious way once it's finished, but it did make the quilting process a bit more challenging on my domestic machine.
Flannel back
I quilted it with two colours of King Tut red cotton, in a kind of spiral pattern over each diamond and a weird kind of poorly thought out swaggy thing on the edges.  It quilted up fast that way.
Beauty
For the first time ever, I sewed the binding on by machine.  It's not perfect, but it's not bad, either.  I had a look at Rita's tutorial, and did it more or less like she suggests, but with basting instead of pinning and without all the zigzagging.  I find the zigzagging to stabilize the edge isn't necessary if you sew the binding to the raw edge of the quilt before you trim the excess batting and backing.  I saw this technique in a Fons and Porter show on PBS, and have done it this way ever since.  I find I get a fatter bound edge, which has a satisfying feel to me.  Anyway, I think the ditch-stitching on the front is about 90% hidden and I caught the back edge properly about 85% of the time (had to finish up those holes by hand).  But I'm pleased with it.  AND (drumroll, please) all four of the mitred corners are perfect!  That is a definite first for me!
Binding
Many thanks to Katie, who as the leader of this quiltalong, is the godmother of the Wine Gums quilt. And, as I said in a previous post, this quilt is for my daughter, who is usually too blase to be interested in my quilting, but was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about this one.  She likes it, and I do, too.  Now, over to Amy's to see the other Sew-n-Tell goodness!
Eve in a blanket
Edited to add info about wine gums: I had forgotten that I didn't know what they were before I moved to Canada and perhaps other Americans are also unfamiliar with them. They are like much more resistant jelly beans, without the sugar coating, and a bit less sweet. They contain no wine or other alcohol, despite their name. They look like this:

And Maynard's is the archetypal brand, at least in Canada.

33 comments:

{ chasing lightning bugs } on: 10 December 2009 at 22:23 said...

beautiful quilt.

{ Diana } on: 10 December 2009 at 23:01 said...

It's beautiful. My eyes just dance over the surface of it looking at the different fabrics.

May I ask what wine gums are?

{ SewCalGal } on: 10 December 2009 at 23:28 said...

Absolutely beautiful. Inspirational. Great design, fabrics, color. Love it. Thanks for sharing.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

{ Lara } on: 11 December 2009 at 00:54 said...

Love it Lesley! And what a perfect name! Just like wine gums, I love your quilt.

{ Kate } on: 11 December 2009 at 05:59 said...

Wow, that quilt is fabulous! Your daughter is one lucky girl. I love stale, hard wine gums and I love your quilt.

{ Thelma } on: 11 December 2009 at 06:58 said...

Can you stand one more comment telling you how stunning this your quilt is? WOW, I just love it! I'm so impressed you quilted it yourself, and not on a longarm! I'm looking forward to the day when binding sewn on by machine is considered the norm, and not cheating. I'm all for it, but I get "that look" from my quilt club members when I do it.

Thanks for the explanation of wine gums, they are new to me.

{ Tamera } on: 11 December 2009 at 07:25 said...

What a gorgeous quilt! I'm glad that your daughter loves it...that's always a bonus, he he he.

{ Unknown } on: 11 December 2009 at 07:30 said...

Just beautiful!! The colors and the layout is just perfect. A great quilt to snuggle with!

{ Anne at Film and Thread } on: 11 December 2009 at 08:18 said...

So glad you put the explanation for what wine gums were! I had no idea.

Your quilt is fantastic. The colors are so rich and beautiful.

{ The Calico Cat } on: 11 December 2009 at 09:36 said...

NICE! I love to use flannel on the backs of my quilts. (I need to unearth my Hanukkah quilt - it has a flannel back!)

Anonymous on: 11 December 2009 at 10:38 said...

Awesome! Love the flannel on the back of course! Can't wait to get mine quilted once it's finished hanging at the shop for classes!

{ Carla } on: 11 December 2009 at 11:22 said...

You quilt came out beautiful! Great fabrics and your daughter really likes it. I also get excited when my binding corners come out perfect. :o)

{ Diane } on: 11 December 2009 at 12:58 said...

My goodness this is beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I get so much inspiration every week from the sew and tell posts! (*had no idea what wine gums were, so thanks for explaining)

{ Suzanna } on: 11 December 2009 at 13:59 said...

LOVE the quilt! When you started blogging about the values quilt, I really didn't see the appeal. Now I do -- it is beautiful.

(To me, wine gums are what jujubes would be if they grew up.)

{ Catherine } on: 11 December 2009 at 14:13 said...

Simply Stunning!! I can see why your daughter hs claimed this quilt as her own! Great work.

{ Sara } on: 11 December 2009 at 15:05 said...

I want that quilt! Oh, it is so pretty...love the colors - just everything about it...

{ Lisa } on: 11 December 2009 at 15:46 said...

Love the quilt! So beautiful photographed with the snow.

{ beth } on: 11 December 2009 at 16:33 said...

That is a beautiful quilt and so glad you daughter loves it..doesn't that make you happy?

{ BumbleBee Bagz } on: 11 December 2009 at 17:00 said...

holy cow! this is gorgeous!!!! can YOU be my santa????

{ ktquilts } on: 11 December 2009 at 17:15 said...

Love that quilt! It is truly stunning. So glad that you added the info on winegums. I was clueless, but now happily informed. Perfect name!

Blessings,
KT

{ My Life In Stitch } on: 11 December 2009 at 17:42 said...

Really loved your quilt but can you tell me why it is a values quilt please? I do know what wine gums are as we have them here in England and like Canada Maynards are the most popular brand.

{ SueWis } on: 11 December 2009 at 20:35 said...

This looks so snuggly, even against the snow. It's beautiful!

{ Karen } on: 11 December 2009 at 21:37 said...

Be proud. The quilt is gorgeous. Love the backing fabric. I have also been using Rita's bind tutorial. I had never tried anything like that before. I was very excited about how it finished.

Anonymous on: 11 December 2009 at 22:26 said...

Your quilt is absolutely beautiful - the photos taken with the snow background really brings out the beauty of the quilt.

{ Leslie } on: 11 December 2009 at 22:54 said...

this quilt has turned out beautifully. i love the colors and the backing fabric is gorgeous.

{ ParisMaddy } on: 11 December 2009 at 23:38 said...

Lesly, it's beautiful and so is your daughter. Love your back fabric, too.

{ Pokey } on: 12 December 2009 at 02:57 said...

Very nice quilt, I love the colors! Of course, your daughter loves it with the bright and cozy flannel back. I ALWAYS machine stitch my bindings on, I prefer to save any handwork to what I have to do. And your mitered corners look great!

{ Nina... } on: 12 December 2009 at 11:20 said...

I love your quilt. It has that rich Bohemian look that is so comforting. It's colorful without being loud. Beautiful!!

{ Jennifer } on: 12 December 2009 at 16:58 said...

That is really beautiful. Great job!

{ Cheryl Arkison } on: 14 December 2009 at 13:53 said...

Wine gums are my brother's favourtite candy. The quilt looks gorgeous! I can't wait to tackle my values quilt.

{ amylouwhosews } on: 14 December 2009 at 15:06 said...

Darn it - now i wish i was on top of it enough to do the values quilt! I still have wonky log cabins to finish!!

I love this! It is glorious in it's scrappy goodness!

{ Rene' } on: 16 December 2009 at 20:07 said...

Your quilt is beautiful!!! I absolutely love it. Thanks for the wine gums definition...I didn't know...loved the quilt anyway, but understand its name better now ;-))

{ annette } on: 19 April 2010 at 14:08 said...

LOVE wine gums. MISS wine gums! Gorgeous quilt - so see why you named it as you did :)

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