Jigsaw Quilt

I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with the gorgeous fabric Fat Quarter pack that I won in a Retreat raffle in May 2014.  Gorgeous Jo suggested I make a jigsaw quilt.  She had just finished one and it showcased the fabrics beautifully.  She even had some left over jigsaw fusible web pieces as well, so I promptly started the quilt.  Super easy to put together,

- just fuse on the jigsaw bits, sew the matching squares to the sides, press the seams open to reduce the bulk after the fusible is attached....

- then fuse on the bias tape, insert a twin needle into the sewing machine with matching thread and top stitch away...

A super effective pattern that sews up fast and a great way to show off those too interesting to cut prints.

The left over pieces were joined up and inserted into the backing fabric.  Plus an extra fabric to make it wide enough - I was 3 inches not quite wide enough when I first made the backing, which I only realised when I was basting it and I had to pull it apart and insert extra fabric - sheesh......

It took me an extremely long time to come up with a quilting plan for the Jigsaw (approx 4.5 years of repeatedly looking at it and putting it away).  Initially, I was going to do a large open stipple or meander over the quilt, but that looked terrible!  Blah!  So I unpicked that.

What I did end up doing was turning the quilt upside down and quilting it by following the large hexagons on the backing fabric, which meant lots of stopping and starting on my domestic machine and having to sew in ends, but I am so pleased with the final result.

Where the insert panel is, I stitched in the ditch and put a pattern down the narrow strips for a bit of added interest. The quilting thread I used was #50 weight variegated lime green cotton by Wonderfil and a #50 weight lime green Guterman cotton thread in the bobbin.

Front of Quilt.

Back of Quilt.

Finishing at 117cm x 155cm (46in x 61in)  with 60%wool / 40% cotton wadding, it is going to be a lovely warm hug for a teenager at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne via the Very Snuggly Quilts program.