Split--A Finish of Preeti's 5 Inch Batik Squares--post 4

Diagonal lines in the corners

Before we left for our Greece trip, I managed to quilt the background pinwheels. When we returned, I quilted the border. For the corner blocks, I kept it simple. I quilted the corners with diagonal lines.

View of the back during quilting

I had fun quilting the colored pinwheels. I was able to change thread! It was also easier to see where I was stitching! Part way through the quilting, I took a photo of the back. The overall texture is great.

Thread and sample of quilting on a
multi-colored block and the back

A couple of the pinwheel fabrics are multicolored. They contain two colors. I was undecided if I would use two colors of threads or if I would maintain the cohesiveness of the block and use one thread. In the end, I used one thread. I quilted one block and let it sit overnight. I compared it with the other blocks and felt that the thread blended. I'm still happy with that decision.

Buring thread

The downside to this project was the time it took to bury all of the threads. In addition to quilting only straight lines on this project, I challenged myself to buy the threads. Would I do it again? It depends. For a project that is going to be used rather than viewed, I wouldn't bother. 

Blocked 

Once it was quilted and all the threads buried, the quilt was a little wonky. I used steam and blocked it. After quilting, it measured 41 x 34 inches.

Label

While it was drying, I made the label. When the quilt is finished, I measure it one more time and add the measurement information to the label. The little piece of batik fabric that frames the label was the last bit I had of that fabric. It's fun to use scraps in the label.

Stitching the last corner of the binding

I attached the side and bottom of the label when I added the binding. I am finally getting the hang of how to apply a machine stitched binding. Machine stitching the binding is faster than hand stitching the binding!

Then it was on to add the sleeve, hand stitch the binding corners closed and finish adhering the label to the quilt. Tah dah. . .a FINISH! Of course, I did a happy dance!

You can read about the inspiration for this project and how I acquired the batik scraps in the links that follow:Winner, Winner--Thank You Preeti post 1, Five Inch Squares post 2, and Quilting the Five Inch Squares.

Finished quilt

I used two and three quarters yard of fabric in this project. This brings the total of fabric used from my stash to six and three quarters yards. The amount would have been higher; but, I purchased two yards of fabric this week. Finishing this project was goal number one on my July list.

Thank you, Preeti for your gift. I had fun stitching your scraps into a usable and FINISHED quilt! Today, I'll begin to catch up with your Positively 2023 stitch a long. I'm linking to Cynthia at Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.