Sewing achievements -the Ice Cream Soda quilt number 2

I never got those photographs taken, the fashion shoots of my latest sewing adventures. But I did take photos of my newly finished Ice Cream Soda quilt, designed by Jodi of Tales of Cloth. This is my second and it took about two years to make. I re-used the papers that I saved from the first one. I had done this carefully, ironing them flat and fixing any ripped papers with sticky tape. I am not sure why it took quite so long but it did. Hand-stitching is a slow process, choosing the fabrics for each block slower still. I am not one to make quick decisions with things like that. Overall, this second version is much more vibrant but maybe it is just because the first version is well used and often washed, which fades the colours. I also mended it in a few places. I think this new version will be a wall hanging rather than a quilt for snuggling up in. I had the blocks stuck on the wall in my small work space for a long time and got used to having a colourful, happy Zoom background. 

For the backing, I chose a light blue linen/cotton mix that I thought at some point in the distant past I would turn into a dress. I didn’t quite have enough but cut a top I made even longer ago into wide strips to make an insert into the backing fabric, thus making it big enough. 

I had intended to hand quilt this quilt but decided against it. Mainly because I wanted closely spaced quilting lines to give the quilt a bit of longevity. It is hand pieced after all and hand stitched seams are never quite as stable as a machine seam. I played around with decorative stitches on my machine, which was fun. I had never used any. I didn’t fancy straight lines. In the end, I chose a wave stitch and I am delighted with how it turned out.

The binding is pieced together from strips of fabric that I used in the blocks. I spent some time thinking about it, considered a plain white binding for example. I stitched the strips together in a vaguely rainbow sequence. You can see glimpses of it on the photos.  

I love the quilt, it is up there in my top three favourite quilts I made. I am now thinking about starting a new project. I am not sure if I want to make another English Paper Piecing quilt, or a quick machine pieced quilt. I’ll have to think about this more. In any case, the new quilt will be a scrappy quilt, just like all my other quilts. 

I am typing this on a fast train crossing France, getting closer to my final destination, Annecy. I’ll be meeting to old friends from Switzerland. So far I am enjoying my train trip. I took the Avanti West Coast from Glasgow to London, then the Eurostar to Paris. I spent the night in Paris, enjoying a peaceful evening. Now whizzing through the French countryside. So much to see outside the window! It sure takes longer to travel by train but it is enjoyable and relaxing. Not much else to do than knit, listen to a book and write a blog post. Exactly what I needed. 

Thanks for visiting 😊