Paddlewheels Are Done!

I finished my Paddlewheels Quilt yesterday! Tested it last night and it's a keeper. Now for the details. This quilt is about 75x93 inches and made entirely from the Thimbleberries line for a country look. The batting is Warm and Natural (unwashed) and the backing is leftovers from my stash. I made this using the quilt-as-you-go method popularized by Georgia Bonesteel, but quilted by machine. My method was to connect together 2 rows of blocks, add backing and batting and pin. Then quilt. After quilting I connected them. Please note that if you are doing a pieced border, attach the border first, then quilt. Lining up quilted cornerstones doesn't work very well. The quilt top goes together very fast. I made all the blocks and border sections in one weekend. The quilt pattern I used is entitled Paddlewheels and Pinwheels and is in the book Thimbleberries Book of Quilts by Lynette Jensen. I'll likely do this quilt again in bright fabrics. This is my type of scrap quilt-lots of different fabrics used, but only one or two background fabrics.

Here's a closeup so that you can see the quilting. When I don't have sashing, I quilt to within 1/2 inch of edge so that I can still easily connect the blocks. I used a walking foot for all the quilting and freehanded the widths. If you want more exacting, measure and mark.

Here's the back. Some of the fabric is leftover after cutting borders for another project. I didn't really like the brown all that much. I did use it for the borders in the front and then used the rest on the back. All the fabric in this quilt is from stash.