Sometimes I’m hit or miss with gift giving but this year I want to try and break that habit, so this other day when I was scrolling through my Pinterest boards & bookmarks I came across an anchor quilt block and thought of my friend Amanda. She loves all things anchors and when I’d shown her this anchor quilt block last year and she liked it so I figured I’d whip up a pillow for a birthday gift since we were all celebrating it this past weekend.
It’s not a hard quilt block to make but it’s also not quick. There’s 49 pieces to this block!
Since this block would be a single focal point on the pillow I was very careful with my scant 1/4″ seam and pressed my seams open for the most part to keep everything lined up. Extra best press on these pieces too!
I made the mistake I knew would probably happen at least once with this project. the low volume I was using for the background was TOO low volume for me to notice I stitched one of the pieces on upside down. So I unpicked the stitched and re-sewed that seam. Then like clock work I did it again on the next section of the block (of course.)
Then it happened: my very first quilting related injury, aside from the typical pin pricks and needle scrapes, that is. I nicked myself with the rotary blade but don’t worry it was not an off the ruler super scary cut ER worthy cut but more of a not-paying enough attention knuckle to blade “tappy-tap” action. I wrapped it with a paper towel and hair elastic and finished the block. I know it was the quilting gods way of saying go to bed but I had to persevere: I was so close!
Then boom, it was done and so pretty!! It took about four hours for me to put this block together. I pulled the solid blue and the low volume (bear essentials) from my stash so I figured I’d choose the border and pillow back from my stash too. I auditioned some fabric but while I loved how the pink thin border it was too close to the finished edge so I went with just the Cosmo Cricket Salt Water scraps I had won through a blog giveaway last year to add the final border.
Weird fact, sometimes I think the back of a quilt block is as neat looking as the front. Am I the only one!?
I used the fancy letter embroidery stitches on the back to add a personal message: “Happy Birthday Panda”
I quilted the front of the pillow with straight lines ~1/2″ apart from each other using a white Aurifil thread. The invisible zipper install wasn’t perfect so I’ll want to try that again. Overall very happy with the end result. I’m so proud I only used fabric from my stash for this and only had to pick up a pillow form and zipper from the store!
Linking up with
This is a fabulous finish and I hope it was a well received gift. You are definitely not the only one who thinks the backs of quilt tops are beautiful. I love the “stained glass look” you can get just from the seams!
What a beautifull pillow. I love the colors and design. Congrats with this finish. A great gift to get with the personal message at the back.
Love from Amsterdam
Your pillow looks great Terri! And ouchh! for your cut. It must have hurt a lot but I like the way you treated it; some paper towel and a hair band LOLL
Thank you for linking up with me at Monday Makers!
I love this low-volume project. It’s so difficult to pull that off successfully. And I agree, the backs of quilts can be as fun as the fronts.
Your friend is very lucky – that’s a great pillow for someone who loves anchors, lol! You did a really nice job on the piecing – my 1/4″ s.a. is never 1/4″ so I have to follow the “cut big, stitch, trim down to size” rule a lot to get any kind of block symmetry 😀