You can read all about my latest quilt pattern, called Up And Away, over on this post here.
That version was all about the navy and white – this quilt is all about yellow and aqua.
My daughter loves yellow quilts and I made this for her way back in 2017. I wrote the Up And Away quilt pattern soon after, but for some reason I never got around to putting it up in the shop.
While I was filing some old photos during quarantine I remembered the pattern and thought ‘boy, this is long overdue!’
If you have kids you’ll know how much they can change in 4 years. The original photos I took for this yellow quilt had my (much smaller) kids running in and out of the shots. (I was trying to take photos while they played basketball in the driveway.) I actually got a little emotional seeing those sweet little kids in those photos – boy they grow fast!
She was 11 in this photo – now she’s 15 and an inch and a half taller than me. 😩
But back to the quilt! This is the throw size of the Up And Away quilt pattern. I used white yardage for the arches, a mix of yellow fat quarters for the background and 3 different aqua solids for the feature triangles. (The colour difference in the aquas is very subtle. This wasn’t on purpose, I was just using up left over fabrics. This pattern is great for that.)
I sent this quilt top out to Lyn’s Quilt Cottage for quilting. She did a great job, as always. I chose one of her meandering vine-like patterns and it was quilted in a yellow variegated thread.
The backing was an Art Gallery Fabric basic in yellow. The print was such that I didn’t have to worry about matching it when I sewed it together (alway appreciated!).
My binding was a yellow floral print fabric. I machine sewed the binding with one of the decorative stitches on my machine (a florally one to match the quilting). The process for this is the same as for my zigzag binding tutorial. The key is to be mindful of how the needle swings left and right while stitching the design so you can time your turning at the corners.
This Up And Away quilt has had many a wash and plenty of wear in the past 4 years and it’s held up beautifully. My daughter keeps it on the end of her bed like a coverlet (on top of her twin quilt) for extra warmth on cold winter nights.
If you’d like to make your own Up And Away quilt you can find the pattern here in my shop. I can vouch for it looking fabulous in navy and as a yellow quilt. Whatever colours you have in your stash, you’ll be able to make a quilt using this pattern.
Happy sewing!
Great tip about the “timing the turn.” I sew for special kids and fur kids (dogs) and so always machine stitch the binding – being mindful that adults are actually the ones that have to care for said quilt. Love the family pic – now that is a real glamour shot. Happy memories.
You can’t beat a machine binding for those quilts that will get strenuous (loving!) use 😃