Elly’s Challenge

While the name of this quilt is Elly’s Quilt, for me it was more like Elly’s Challenge. Why was this quilt so challenging?

Not Just Cotton

The first element of challenge was very obvious right from the start – half of the blocks were made from a beautiful flower and gold fabric but it was not cotton. This poly – stretchy – poofy fabric had to have been a challenge to piece. I do say that the creator of this little baby quilt did an amazing job.

The second challenge was the gorgeous embroidered elements that covered each polka dot block. Now there was no problem quilting over these blocks, the challenge here was more of thread color choice.

Backing Challenge

Finally, if the stretchiness of the top was not enough, the back was Minky!

Challenge accepted

The first step toward accepting this challenge was the decision to float the top. It is hard enough to control stretch when you work with Minky, but even tougher when the top has a mind of its own.

If you look at the blocks as they lay above, you can see that the polka dots lay flat while the florals poof out. This prior to any quilting.

The other consideration was thread color and pattern. The customer did not want a dense pattern that would obscure the embroidery, nor did she want the quilting to stand out all over the quilt on the darker sections. Because of this and the color of the minky (dark blue), we decided on a navy thread and the Wandering Daisies E2E.

Not only did the front turn out beautifully, the additional motif in blue on blue on the minky was an added bonus.

What challenges did you face this week while creating your quilts?