A Quilt Finish for Christmas: Mama’s China

*Click on any photo in this post to enjoy a larger view

I am really happy to finish this bed quilt just in time for Christmas. With its cream background and lots of red, it strikes me as a holiday quilt. I used Sweetwater’s wonderful Mama Said Sew collection (I used a jelly roll plus some yardage), and their pattern (Mama’s China) designed just for this fabric. I increased the size a bit with three borders instead of one for a quilt that measures a nice 85″ X 85″.

As always, I pieced the back with left over fabric and used some big pieces of two fabrics in the collection – one red and one black.

I really struggled with the quilting on this one. I used Warm and White batting which is a lot heavier than the wool batting I usually use with quilts this large. It was a challenge to muscle this baby through my machine and I found myself intimidated by all that negative space. But in the end I was quite happy with the free motion quilting design of flowers and double swirls which I learned from Angela Walter’s new book, Free-Motion Quilting (Stashbooks, 2012).

I also did a little back and forth loops in the first border, just to mix it up a bit.

I used a really fun black stripe for the binding:

And, of course, I hand stitched a label:

I had a little trouble photographing this quilt. Not only is it pretty big, but it is a gray, wintry day outside today. I draped it back and front:

I folded it:

…and I crumpled it:

But, in the end, it will be laid over the top of my guest bed where it will brighten the room with a little Christmas cheer, and keep my mom warm when she comes for a visit beginning next week!

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This quilt counts toward the fourth quarter of the 2012 Finish-Along. See my post for the fourth quarter here.