First of all, I’d like to welcome the new readers to the blog since my last post. This quilt was largely responsible for my long absence! I am just adding a label and preparing to ship to Austin, so it is time to tell its story.
The quilt began as a daily project in January of 2018. After piecing my first squircle quilt using print fabric in 2017, I decided to repeat the process with solid fabrics. This time I pieced the background of each block before using needle turn applique to attach the squircle shapes. All of the fabrics came from my scrap bin, and were pieced and stitched randomly, with no particular design in mind.
At the end of the year, I had my 365 blocks plus the 13 extra to again bring my array to 18 x 21. Unlike the previous quilt that was assembled as I went along, this time I had 378 blocks to arrange on the design wall. Looking back through my photos, it looks like I arranged and rearranged them for over a month!
I began piecing the blocks just before heading to Nashville for QuiltCon and finished piecing mid-April.
By the middle of May, it was basted with a fluffy Hobbs Tuscany wool batting and an extra wide peppered cotton backing. I loved the way it felt once it was basted and couldn’t wait to start hand quilting!
Fortunately, I had stocked up on WonderFil Eleganza perle cotton #8 while I was at QuiltCon.
My goal was to have it completed by the December 2 deadline for submissions to QuiltCon 2020 in Austin. Here is my hoop on the first day of quilting.
After quilting for a few days, I estimated that I would need to quilt an average of three hours a day to make that deadline. That seemed doable! I worked on it steadily throughout the summer and tried to make up for lost time when I was away from home on other adventures.
By September, it became obvious that I had miscalculated, and I began quilting all day every day. This is not something I would recommend, as it takes a toll on the body. I tried to consistently take breaks, do hand and shoulder exercises, change chairs and positions which all helped to keep me stitching. I also listened to a LOT of audiobooks. There were many days when I abdicated all but the most pressing of daily responsiblities. And here is my hoop on the final day of quilting.
Late November found me trimming and attaching the binding. Trying to get good photos on gray, rainy days was a stressful part of the submission process. A goal for this year is to improve my photography set up.
My diligence paid off and the quilt submission was in before Thanksgiving…a new record for me! Many thanks to Audrey Esarey @cottonandbourbon for suggesting the name of the quilt to me. (She is a rising star in the modern quilt community…I highly recommend you check out her amazing work.)
It was so exciting to get the news that it was accepted to QuiltCon and I am looking forward to traveling to Austin again. Maybe I’ll see you there!
penny lane quilts 
Oh this is gorgeous!
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Thank you so much! I am very happy with this finish.
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Love the way the colors play across this quilt. Great job!
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It was a lot of fun to play with the transitions between color sections. It is a very satisfying finish!
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It’s beautiful Marla! Looking forward to seeing it and you in Austin!
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Thanks, Paula! Looking forward to seeing you again. February is right around the corner!
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Your quilt is fantastic! I wish I could come and see it in person but unfortunately I’m so far away!
Myrto in Athens, Greece
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That is a long way away! I am glad we are able to connect and see quilts virtually, at least.
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This is stunning and I am looking forward to getting to see it in person, Marla. Wow, do you have any rough idea of the total number of hours you spent hand quilting it?
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I am glad you will have the opportunity to see it at QuiltCon and I’ll look forward to your reaction. I estimated that I spent between 600-700 hours hand quilting and with the hand applique, piecing, binding, blocking, etc. I figure I have roughly 1000 hours lovingly stitched into this one.
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This quilt is lovely and I really like the hand quilting with the contrasting threads. Thanks for all the details about batting, threads etc. I find those really useful.
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oh I loved your first squiggle quilt but this one is just over the top. I can’t even believe the time and effort you put into the hand-quilting. It’s gorgeous! Good luck at QuiltCon! I’m so glad it’ll be in the show.
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Thanks, Deb. I do feel that a lot of the past year is tied up in this quilt! I’m grateful that it will be at QuiltCon so others can see it, too. Looking forward to seeing you there.
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We just saw it in Austin and it was stunning! Is this for sale by chance?
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I ADORE this “For the Love of Squircles” quilt. I think it’s breathtakingly beautiful. The hand quilting is so impressive. I think the piecing of the backgrounds was a stroke of brilliance. I just stumbled across this blog from the Daily Blog on TheQuiltShow.com, and am so glad I did. I’ve signed up for your newsletter. Love your work! ~Diana K.
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Thank you so much!I appreciate your support. The quilting was definitely a labor of love. I’ve been absent from the blog for awhile, but hope to be back soon with some of my newer work.
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I am so glad that you had the opportunity to see it in Austin!
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