Just in the nick of time, I finished the Dr. Seuss quilt for my daughter’s preschool fundraiser. As I mentioned in previous blog posts When Duty Calls: Dr. Seuss Raffle Quilt and Dr. Suess Flimsy Finish, this quilt was created from an old work in progress for a fundraiser raffle at our local elementary school. Every bit of fabric used was already in my stash, with the exception of the polar fleece backing. I am really happy with how the quilt came out, and finishing at 44″x51″, it is a decent snuggle size for a child to curl up under while reading a book.
Before I go into the details of this finish, I want to extend a huge heartfelt thank you to everyone who commented on my previous Flimsy Finish post. You helped me to realize the true joy in giving that is involved in donation quilts, and to feel entirely positively about the whole experience. What matters most is that this quilt will be loved by a child, and that I have donated my time, skill, and materials to a cause in which I believe. Hopefully the school and PTO will earn a good sum thanks to the addition of this quilt to the raffle basket, but even if not, the joy that it brings to a child–and really, to me for having the ability to donate such a labor of love–is what matters in the end. So THANK YOU!
Now, the quilt!!
I backed this quilt with gorgeous turquoise polar fleece so that it is extra snuggly, and decided to use that same polar fleece backing to bind the quilt. I wanted the binding to be extra wide, since it is so snuggly, so I trimmed the backing so that it extended 1.5″ from every side, then folded in half and then folded over the front of the quilt to make a 3/4″ binding, top stitched on the front. It was surprisingly smooth and easy, and I love the finished look!
The free motion quilting shows nicely on the solid polar fleece back, and I almost like the back of the quilt as much as the front!
My free motion quilting (FMQ) is far from perfect, but I think it was an excellent design for this quilt layout. The wonky Seussical triangles I quilted on the narrow sashing crossed fairly smoothly, and the simple orange peel-esque diamonds hold it together nicely. I used a wide wiggle on the wide white borders (can you tell I’m a total FMQ newbie? “wide wiggle”!? haha), and couldn’t resist the urge to do a bit of free form Dr. Seuss FMQ in the corners. I roughly quilted three Truffala trees with “Unless” written beneath in one corner, two Seussical stars in two opposite corners, and I quilted my “tag” into the final corner, since I didn’t want to mar the beautiful back with a cotton label.
I had my usual helper, Mr. Max, who couldn’t resist snuggling behind this quilt. Just a few cameos of my cutie pie helper and then I’ll share the official quilt stats
Quilt Stats
Pattern: Must Stash (Diamond Quilt) from the book Modern Designs for Classic Quilts
Size: 44″x51″
Fabric:
Front: Dr. Seuss fabric by Robert Kaufman Fabrics with Kona White sashing and borders.
Back & Binding: Turquoise polar fleece
Batting: 100% cotton Warm & Natural batting
Thread: Aurifil 50wt 2615 – Aluminum & 2600 – Dove
Quilting: Free motion quilted on my domestic Bernina Artiste 730
Time:
Cutting diamonds (rough approximation): 3 hours
Layout and cutting of supplemental diamonds: 45 minutes
Piecing the top–aka sewing sashing: 7 hours
Squaring, layering, and basting: 1 hour
Quilting: 6 hours
Finishing (trimming to size, clipping threads): 45 minutes
Binding: 1 hour
Total: Approx. 19 hours 30 minutes
I’m linking up with TGIFF. I’m also going to link up with Yvonne’s Thankful Thursday since I’m truly thankful for you awesome quilting community, who helped me see the light about donation quilts. It’s all about the giving!
Night Quilter 
The quilt turned out so beautifully, Kitty! I really love how the quilting shows through on the backing, and the photos with Mr. Max have me jealous that he got to snuggle with it. 🙂 Congratulations for getting it done in such a short period of time, and I hope that it goes to a deserving home where it will be well loved.
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Love love love love love the quilting on this Kitty. Is that too many loves? Don’t care, cause that triangle pattern against the curve adds so much interest to the back of the quilt and frames the diamonds beautifully. Congrats and I love seeing that Yvonne’s time tracking is catching on, I actually have been doing a little time tracking with a quilt I’m dying to get back to this weekend!
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It’s adorable, Kitty. Well done!
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The free motion quilting does really look amazing on the backing! Do you see this all with a normal machine? I feel kind of intimidated by free motion quilting, but you rock it. Over and over again. How difficult was it to sew with the polar fleece? That sounds a bit thick and maybe stretchy. It looks like it went well; I guess I was just curious if it was a pill to work with at all. Hope your weekend is lovely.
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Hi Kelsey! Thank you so much! I’ll answer this here, since a few have asked about the polar fleece backing. Yes, I did all of this with my normal machine, with the darning foot and the feed dogs lowered. I don’t even have any tools (quilting halo, gloves, etc.) so I just kind of roll the sides and guide it around.
The polar fleece was surprisingly easy to sew with!! I was all kinds of nervous about mondo bunching and stretching, but it went really smoothly. The stretchiness of the fleece actually makes it more forgiving, in a way. There are two small bunchy spots on the back, but I think it’s more a result of the way I was trying to be quick and possibly dragged the quilt through the machine too hastily and less the polar fleece :). Even folding over the fleece back as binding was super easy and smooth. I definitely would recommend trying it, at the very least for baby quilts!
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So cute! I love the arcs in the diamonds. And those spiral triangles… awesome!
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Wow! You really put the hammer down on this one! It looks great. Did you have any trouble FMQing with a polar fleece backing? I’ve never tried. No question that a Seuss-y quilt is far and away the place to have quilting that is not quite perfect. Wonky in any way suits to a T. So I guess that makes it perfect after all. 🙂 Hope it sells a tonne of tickets and that it ends up in the hands of a little person that loves it to bits.
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You did a wonderful job quilting it! And I love the color your chose for the backing fleece and fold over binding. The fold over binding is a technique I haven’t tried yet. Yours turned out great.
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GASP* the quilting looks so great on the back!!!! Wow, great FMQ design choice. I love the diamonds. That is going to make some little kid soooo happy.
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It looks beautiful and very snuggly. I love the quilting you chose. It compliments the quilt pattern very beautifully. You have done a great job!
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What a cute little helper you have there! Love the fleece backing, it looks so snuggly and really shows off your FMQ finesse!
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Aurifil shout out? Go, Kitty! Adorable quilt!
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