Cactus & Orange Baby Quilt

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

Finished size: 44" x 55"

(click on photos to enlarge)

✫FINISHED QUILT:✫ 

 Front piecing: A scrappy center cactus medallion, made with a modified patchwork diagram offered by Sassafras Lane Designs. The cactus is surrounded by 56 quarter-blocks which are combined into 14 "Double Option Stars" blocks. There are 4 borders total in this quilt, one being a pieced piano key border made from the star blocks' leftover triangles.

Back: The backing is a "Changing Seasons - Sky" by Ro Gregg for Paintbrush Studios. I just love this fabric's colors - it looks like clouds over a desert during sunset.

 To quilt, "Bone" (So Fine 50 #452) thread is used on the front, and "Daffodil" (So Fine 50 #420) on the back. 
To compliment the cactus theme, edge-to-edge "Cactus Garden" by Quilts Complete is stitched everywhere except for the center medallion. Over the cactus, there is crosshatching, and then outlining that center rectangle is a southwestern variegated satin stitch sewn on my Bernina 240 domestic machine. 

The quilt's label is embroidered right onto the binding - my now preferred method of quilt labeling.

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

✫PROGRESS PHOTOS:✫

To create the center cactus medallion, I followed a patchwork diagram offered by Sassafras Lane Designs, but I used larger fabric squares and laid out the background differently. I surrounded the cactus with vertical strips of cloud fabric, embroidered a couple orange cactus flowers, added some "sandy" looking fabric at the base, and then finally a dark green frame.

Once the center was completed, I created "Double Option Stars" blocks with scrappy orange fabrics. Each block is made of 4 smaller sections, which are cut from strip sets. I made 14 blocks (56 sections) to surround the cactus. But, after each quarter-section was complete, there were 2 leftover triangles that remained unused in the pattern.

So I decided to combine those leftover triangles, two at a time, into individual 2" x 3.5" rectangles. Then I staggered the rectangles with green and orange fabric strips to make a unique semi-piano-key inner border. Yay, no wasted fabric!

The backing and batting are loaded, and the top is floating on my Janome QMP18 long arm.

I've had my long arm almost exactly two years, and this finish makes quilt #49!

 I stitched crosshatching in the center medallion, highlighting the cactus patchwork. 

Then I stitched the remainder of the quilt in a digital repeat edge-to-edge "Cactus Garden" by Quilts Complete. The front of the quilt is stitched in "Bone" colored thread, the back in "Daffodil" yellow.

Using my Brother PE700 embroidery machine to embroider the quilt's label on the binding fabric strips. The binding fabric is by Timeless Treasures called “Beach Haven”.

Finishing the attachment of the binding (by machine) after wrapping it around from the back to the quilt 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 two washings, the dye trapping sheets removed much of the orange and green fabric dyes, hoping to prevent any color bleeding in future washings! (I use either Color Catchers or Color Grabbers).

I always like to see the progression of my quilts as they "grow" from their beginning stages to the final product. 

✫QUILT RECIPIENT:✫

This cactus quilt was made for baby brother Lang.

Click here to see big brother Finn's Safari Quilt.

✫QUILT SUMMARY:✫

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

Finished size: 44" x 55"

Front piecing: A scrappy center cactus medallion, surrounded by 14 "Double Option Stars" blocks (56 quarter-blocks). Also 4 borders in this quilt, one being a pieced piano key border made from the star blocks' leftover triangles.

Back: Gorgeous "Changing Seasons - Sky" by Ro Gregg for Paintbrush Studios.

Binding: Machine sewn and attached, lovely fabric by Timeless Treasures called “Beach Haven”.
Label: I embroidered the label directly onto the quilt's binding. This has become my preferred method of labeling a quilt.

Quilting: Used both edge-to-edge "Cactus Garden" by Quilts Complete, as well as crosshatch stitching. I used So Fine 50 (#452) "Bone" thread on the front, and So Fine 50 (#420) "Daffodil" thread on the back.

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