Lilacs & Lavender

It's such a great feeling to finish a quilt that's been in the making for over a year now. I started this quilt in July 2013, just 2 weeks before moving to Florida. I finished piecing the top in October 2013 and it only took me a year to get it quilted. Okay, that's not exactly true, but it did take me a few months to improv piece the backing.  Jump ahead to September of this year when I finally pulled this project out of the closet and basted it but then let it sit for another 2 weeks before figuring out how to quilt it. So happy it's finally done. Introducing Lilacs & Lavender:

Had some weird shadows and light in this location.

I chose this name not only because of all of the purples, but it also represents my mom and me. She loved lilacs (and passed that love on to me) and I love fresh lavender. It makes me sad that Florida heat and humidity prevent me from planting either in our yard.

The colors in this photo are pretty accurate.

As I quilted this, I made the decision to NOT quilt in any of the white areas, except for a few echo outlines of the white squares. I stitched in the ditch around all of the white sashing and white triangles. I know this might sound odd, but I wanted the white to pop off the quilt. Most people want the individual blocks to pop, but me, I have to go against the grain.


I was really paranoid about washing this quilt given some of the dark blues and deep purples. After I completed quilting it, I realized that my white extension table was tinted purple from the backing fabric so I was positive that it was going to bleed all over the nice white sashing when I washed it so I used 7 color catchers. Turns out I was paranoid for no reason. All 7 color catchers came out of the washer without any color on them. Go figure. Better safe than sorry. Looking forward to cuddling up with this on the couch.

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Comments

  1. How lovely to see the end result! it seems like forever ago that we were all working on this one :-)

    My two versions are still in the cupboard but I am hoping to get back on track with lots of my sewing over the Christmas period.

    I will quilt them myself and I really like your idea of letting the contrast fabric "pop"

    Your "Lilacs & Lavender" quilt is absolutely beautiful!

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  2. The quilt looks great, and I totally understand the washing / bleeding paranoia! I hope you enjoy snuggling underneath it. :)

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  3. Fabulous! I love purples and they are so hard to find. This looks really lovely!

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  4. simply beautiful, I love the purple and the white sashing just pops. Great job.

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  5. Congrats on a gorgeous finish! The lighter quilting in the sashing works, not only works, it looks fabulous! Keep breaking those rules! :)

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  6. I loved it when I saw this a flimsy and bought the pattern to make my own now it is quilted it is amazing wonderful delightful I think you can tell how much I love it. Would have been terrible if it had bled, I use colour catchers all the time now just in case something runs

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  7. I don't think leaving the white areas unquilted or lightly quilted is odd at all. It looks right.
    Hurrah for no purple running dye in the wash!

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  8. I was a member of this quilt aloang to. But you made a real beauty with your color choices. Amazing. I did not like the design, just entered the quilt along to learn piecing.But you proved I was so wrong. You finishd a great quilt. Congrats I love the design now I have seen this. Congrats with your gorgeous finish.
    Love from Amsterdam

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  9. Lilacs and Lavender turned out beautifully. So glad to hear that bleeding was not a problem. After all that hard work and wait... What a relief! Love the colours and the quilting. Gorgeous finish!

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  10. what a gorgeous quilt. So glad the colour didn't run - I am always paranoid about that!

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  11. All I can say is STUNNING. The colours are so jewell-enriched, your quilt is truly gorgeous.

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  12. This quilt is just pretty! Happy to see it finished, you made the right choice on the quilting it defiantly looks warm and fluffy. Love that!

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  13. What a lovely Lilacs and Lavender quilt, those purples are just so pretty!!

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  14. Fabulous quilt. I love your colour selection and the thoughts behind your quilting of the quilt. I agree, better to be safe than sorry! :)

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  15. What a beautiful quilt! I love the fabrics. I seem to really be drawn to cool colors. I think not quilting in the white and making it puff up a bit is great!

    Such a lovely sentiment behind the quilt too. I've done the multiple color catcher thing with no colors bleeding onto it as well. I always figure if I don't do it... it will bleed. If I do add them... it won't bleed. I'd rather not take the risk!

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  16. This is so pretty. And I like how the white sashes turned out without quilting--they really do pop! Aren't you glad there are color catchers? And Aren't you glad they came out of the wash without color?!! ( I used to be so afraid of color bleed that I didn't wash quilts before giving them away. I wonder what happened when they did get washed.)

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  17. This is so pretty. And I like how the white sashes turned out without quilting--they really do pop! Aren't you glad there are color catchers? And Aren't you glad they came out of the wash without color?!! ( I used to be so afraid of color bleed that I didn't wash quilts before giving them away. I wonder what happened when they did get washed.)

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  18. This is so pretty. And I like how the white sashes turned out without quilting--they really do pop! Aren't you glad there are color catchers? And Aren't you glad they came out of the wash without color?!! ( I used to be so afraid of color bleed that I didn't wash quilts before giving them away. I wonder what happened when they did get washed.)

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  19. Your quilt is beautiful! I love the different size blocks and how they all link together. Is it your own design or taken from a pattern?
    Allison, UK

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