Seaglass Quilt #2

Just as I've done with making Kawandi, it seems that since learning how to make a Seaglass Quilt, I can't get this concept and technique out of my system!

We live two hours from either ocean, so the closest I am to a pretty water view is at one of the 89 swimming pools in our community! So that's where I headed for these pictures. Special thanks to my patient hubs Dan, for quilt-holding. 

Seaglass Quilt #2 is 35½" X 47". It was just as much fun to make as the first. (Here's my blog post about the first Seaglass Quilt.)

As before, I used mostly scraps, though to get enough of each of the six colors, I also had to dig into stash and cut off chunks. In my quilting world, and sewing room, what I refer to as scraps are often the really bitty pieces that many quilters call crumbs. To make a Seaglass quilt, crumbs aren't large enough.  

For Seaglass quilt #2, rather than using a quilting cotton background, I used linen yardage in the color natural.

Seaglass Quilt #2, 35½" X 47"

Right away I learned that the fusible doesn't like to stick to linen as well as it does to quilting cotton. That's why when I did the free motion quilting, beside quilting around the outside of each shape, I also quilted a snail-trail swirl into each piece. I used 80-weight Aurifil thread on top which I like because it's practically invisible. On the back is 50-weight Aurifil.

I chose this gray, gold-spattered fabric as backing, mostly because it was one of the few single pieces of print yardage I have left in my stash. I finished the quilt with a faced edge using Hayley Grzych's "Easy Quilt Facing" tutorial on the Bernina/We All Sew website. 

If you haven't yet made a Seaglass Quilt, here's why I enjoy it so much, and recommend making one:

1) it uses scraps that are about 3" X 3" or so;

2) it's really fun to experiment with color arrangement and flow;

3) machine appliqué and quilting happens all in one step, so if you like free motion quilting, this will be right up your alley; and

4) if you have odds and ends of various brands and colors of thread, a Seaglass quilt is a great way to use them up! 

I bought video instructions from Allie at www.exhaustedoctopus.com to learn to make this. If you want to do the same, go here. (I am not compensated for providing this link!) Linda