By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador
I finished the New Wave Quilt by Elizabeth Hartman recently. If you missed it, here is Part 1.
Because I live in the middle of nowhere and because I have a stash that’s been growing for 35 years, I am pretty committed to sewing with what I have. I can’t just pop over to the quilt shop so I have learned how to make my stash work for me.
Several of the fabrics that didn’t make the front came together nicely for the backing.
The fabric on the left above was the cutoff from another quilt back. I’m recycling!
Over time I have realized that I prefer light-colored backings. For some reason, darkly colored backs feel too heavy. It’s purely psychological but it’s my preference.
For this quilt, it was important to me that the label express something to my family member. It’s much less important that the label records my name and where I live. I kept it simple and used my own hand printing and a permanent fabric marker.
Then I topstitched around with some colorful thread to reflect the hot pink strip on the quilt front. “Iny” is my grandma name and it’s been my family nickname for about 50 years. It’s pronounced like your eye and your knee: EYE-knee.
I hope Maribel enjoys it. She’s an adult but she’s very small in stature, so I think the size will be just right. And I hope it will convey my great appreciation for her and all that she does to show love and kindness to those around her.
I like how your main backing looks similar to the quilt top design. I think Maribel will love her new quilt from her Iny!
Thank you so much for this idea! I just finished this quilt (my first commission) in blues and white and I’ve been waffling between straight lines or an ‘elvira’ curve – you sold me on the straight lines!