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Herringbone Iowa Hawkeyes Quilt

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Herringbone Iowa Hawkeyes Quilt

I made a quilt! I finished the Christmas present I “gave” my husband in.. 2013, so to say I’m excited to have finished this UFO is a huge understatement. If you remember, I have a long list of them to catch up on, but this one bugged me the most because I bought all the fabric so long ago. This is my first quilt, and potentially my last that is this big. I didn’t think quilting was easy, but I was so shocked by how long this took me. If you’ll remember, my first quilting project was a mug rug and it didn’t turn out that great.

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My First Quilt - Process Photos

I really like the half-square triangle blocks, they’re big and graphic and bold. I followed this tutorial from Persia Lou; I had a hard time finding a pattern for only two colors and hers was perfect. I used a on binding from Oh, Fransson! but machine sewed instead of binding (sorry, her tutorial seems to be gone? I can’t find it and the original link was dead), and serged around all the raw edges before I attached the binding (a tip I saw from rachael at imagine gnats!).

I used this Nature-Fil batting in the Queen/King size . I didn’t realize that different battings have different quilting lengths – I wanted to do minimal quilting so looked for one that allowed for that. Both the black and yellow fabrics are by Laura Gunn, the Painter’s Canvas line in Mustard and Black from Hawthorne Threads.

Black and Yellow Quilt

Here it is! I think the points look much more precise than they are – I’m guessing the brain just follows the pattern instead of picking up on mistakes. One element of the quilt process that frustrated me was that I couldn’t tell what caused imperfections. I can only assume lack of practice & imprecision, but I felt like I did the same thing for all of the blocks/binding/etc. So why didn’t it all look the same?

Iowa Hawkeye Fabric

You can see the quilting pattern I followed on the back – I didn’t do it intentionally, but I think using black fabric and black thread for the backing/binding/quilting was a brilliant choice. All imperfections are well masked. I prewashed all the fabric but not the batting (is that prewashable? I don’t even know), I like the “quilty” look.

Iowa Hawkeyes Quilt

My husband was about as amused of a model as my toddler, haha! Naturally this project above all required one of my snarky labels – I’m not sure I’ve ever spent more time on any other project in my life! I added an Iowa Hawkeye applique with Wonder Under but it looked awful after the washing process. I’m not sure why? I’ve never had issues with applique before, but I’ve also never quilted with it.

Like I said, I completely underestimated the amount of time and effort that goes into a quilt. I have SO much more respect for quilters now – especially knowing how simple this design was!

I’d like to try some more blocks and smaller quilt projects but definitely will not be tackling any more big quilts any time soon. Are you a quilter? Do you have any favorite quilters to suggest and I can follow on Instagram? Give me some suggestions!

Iowa Hawkeyes Herringbone Quilt for my husband

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kim

Thursday 17th of November 2016

You did a fantastic job! You're husband should cherish this gift forever. I am currently a quilting beginner, and have found that Pat Sloan has wonderful tips and quilt blocks to learn. Her books are so easy to follow too. I am following along with the Splendid Sampler quilt. It is 100 blocks, that we are doing 2 a week. You can join whenever you want and it's free. You can collect all of the blocks that have been posted already as well. I know that I can't keep up with doing 2 a week, but just to have the lovely blocks available to do when I have time is a blessing. Thanks for blogging!

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Saturday 19th of November 2016

Thanks Kim! He has slept under it every night since I gave it to him - super sweet :) I am definitely a quilting beginner as well, that Splendid Sampler looks so cool! I've been following this one on Instagram - http://www.gnomeangel.com/100days100blocks-tula-pink-city-sampler-instagram-sew-along/ , it's so fun to watch. Thanks for the recommendation!

Dee

Friday 18th of September 2015

I love this!! Go Hawks! Great job. No quilt is perfect and that's what makes them original. And like my quilter friend says about mistakes - no one will ever know! (most of the time!) Good instagrams to follow: fatquartershop, southernfabric, jaybirdquilts, samanthaleeolsen, quiltstory, vchristenson (from Iowa!), rileyblakedesigns, and crazymomquilts are some of my favorites! Happy quilting!

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Friday 18th of September 2015

Hi Dee! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a kind and helpful comment! I'm not familiar with a few of the folks you mentioned so I'm off to follow them! I did follow Vchristenson and am familiar with some of her work but I did NOT know she was in Iowa! So fun!!

Pam @Threading My Way

Saturday 13th of June 2015

Awesome job on your first quilt, Stephanie!!! From where I'm sitting, the points are looking good. I've made five quilts and I learn so much each time. Love your label, too. Alison, from Cluck Cluck Sew is someone I'd recommend to follow for quilting know how.

Stephanie - Swoodson Says

Friday 19th of June 2015

Thank you Pam! I follow Alison on Instagram, I should go over and poke around on her blog though. I'm not sure when I'll tackle another quilt, but I love looking at other people's masterpieces!

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