Musical String Couch Quilt

I paper-pieced and machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.
I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 63" x 68"

(click on photos to enlarge)

✫Finished quilt details:✫

Front piecing: A very scrappy combination of 80 paper-pieced blocks using the "String Me Along" pattern. Seven appliqued musical notes are scattered over the quilt top, with three surrounding borders added.

Back: The backing is a bright and contrasting cotton print of colorful musical notes on a black background, manufactured by Hi-Fashion Fabrics.

To contrast the quilt piecing's straight geometric lines, I used the swirly "Ginger Snap" quilting pattern. I used daffodil yellow thread on the front, and spring green thread on the back.

After being machine washed twice with dye trapping sheets (I like to use either Color Catchers or Color Grabbers), the quilt is soft and wonderfully wrinkled, ready to be used!

I embroidered the quilt's label right onto the binding.

✫Progress photos:✫

"String Me Along" is a paper-piecing pattern. I used many fabric strips, ranging from 1" wide to 2.5" wide. There are unused scraps of fabric from at least 17 of my prior made quilts combined into this project, plus fabrics given to me from many generous people. 

I pieced 80 blocks, and removing the paper was a very time-consuming project. I will definitely use thin phone book pages next time to facilitate a quicker paper-removal process!

Once piecing the top was complete, I used my Brother PE700 embroidery machine to add 7 appliqued musical notes. (They are placed strategically, to reinforce some narrow seam allowances.)

The backing and batting are loaded, and the top is floating on my Janome QMP18 long arm, with edge-to-edge flourishy "Ginger Snap" stitching pattern being quilted.

Always so happy with the way Intelligent Quilting's "Ginger Snap" stitches out!

Just had about an inch left of backing fabric when the final row was being stitched out - cut that one a little too close for comfort. 😉

Again using my Brother PE700 embroidery machine, this time to embroider the quilt's label on the binding fabric strips. The fabric is a lively red “Vintage Holiday” by Moda.

Binding:

I machine bind almost every quilt I make. I found a couple tutorials that helped me learn to get a really nice finish with a machine-sewn binding:

Easy Quilt Binding

Machine Bind Your Quilts

Attaching the binding strips to the back of the quilt...and then finishing by wrapping the binding around and stitching it onto the front.

When attaching the binding on the front, I always switch to my blind hem foot on my domestic machine (Bernina 240) to get a close and precise stitch.

After washing, the dye trapping sheets removed a lot of the black and red fabric dyes, hoping to prevent any color bleeding in future washings! (I use either Color Catchers or Color Grabbers).

And for a little fun, I like to see the progression of my quilts from first being pieced together, to the final product. 😊

✫Quilt Recipient:✫

This message from the quilt's recipient reinforces why I try to use my quilts to bless others, and to spread kindness: "I did just receive the beautiful quilt and am so excited and touched!!! Mom loves it too! What a beautiful, heartfelt gift, especially with the bright colors and music notes...you know I love music!"

✫Quilt Summary:✫

I paper-pieced and machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.
I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 63" x 68"

Front piecing: 80 scrappy paper-pieced blocks using the "String Me Along" pattern. Seven appliqued musical notes are scattered over the quilt top, with three surrounding borders added.

Back: A bright contrasting cotton print of colorful musical notes on a black background.

Binding: Machine sewn and attached, a lively red “Vintage Holiday” by Moda. 
Label: I embroidered the label directly onto the quilt's binding. This has become my preferred method of labeling a quilt.

Quilting: Used the lovely and swirly Intelligent Quilting's "Ginger Snap" quilting pattern. I used So Fine 50 (#420) daffodil yellow thread on the front, and So Fine 50 (#450) spring green thread on the back.

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