MMQG Challenge

Way back at the October meeting of the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild, we were given a fantastic bundle of Mona Luna organic fabrics including a bunch from the new Meadow line! The fabric was for the MMQG "Challenge Yourself" project.

My biggest challenge is finishing things on time. So there's that. I wanted to try a new technique, too. I thought this bold fabric would be a good candidate for reverse applique, inspired by this amazing quilt I stumbled upon. I found a great tutorial that teaches (what I think seems) the easiest reverse applique method, so I went for it.



It was a challenge, for sure. I wanted the ellipses to look like stones in a river, or knots in a tree.  I followed the tutorial with only slight modifications: 1) I drew the ellipses directly on the wrong side of my quilt top, 2) I did the sewing on the wrong side of the quilt, where I had drawn the ellipses, instead of on the front, and 3) I used a glue stick instead of tape. I found it helpful to press the fabric from the wrong side of the quilt top, that seemed to make it less likely for the scrap fabric to peek through. I also glue-sticked the scrap fabric in place after turning and pressing, then I glue-sticked the Mona Luna Meadow fabric to the quilt, too. I used a lot of glue sticks for this.



A close-up of the front. All that glue-sticking washed right out :) I used my walking foot for most of the lines, but free-motioned the few lines that end in curls. I'm not real happy with my free-motion skills and I might re-do those later. I buried all my ends for this quilt, and I used spray baste for the first time. Lots of new things happening here!



And the back - a darker Kona grey. The quilt is throw-size - 40" x 60" - perfect for our couch and this never ending winter.