Improv Project {Progress} + Midnight at the Oasis Quilt {Progress)

I have some progress for my Conquering Quilty Feary - Improv project to share today. The cushion is all sewn together and quilted and I just need to sew on the binding. 

As it's not quite finished, I'll try to hold off sharing the completed project until the end of the month (but a sneaky little peak won't hurt). Right?



I machine quilted it in a spiral shape (though not measured at all, just eye-balled). I then used double strands of a lovely lilac shade of Aurifil 12 weight to hand quilt in between the machine stitches.

Oh I love this effect sooooo much! I might need to do it again on another project.




My Midnight at the Oasis quilt top is almost complete. I started this project a number of years ago and it's been my 'on-again, off-again' love. Through the middle of this past year I made a big push to get it done... and then put it away again at the end of the year when life got busy.



With the last of the courthouse steps blocks finished, I'm now assembling the final border. These aren't quite fitting as easily as the pattern suggests, so I'm fiddling with the edges just a little bit to 'make it work' (as Tim Gunn used to say on Project Runway).

It's a super bright and busy looking quilt, so I'm wondering how to quilt it. 



How would you quilt this? I'd love to hear your suggestions :)

And just in case you're interested, here are a few of my previous Midnight at the Oasis blog posts. There seem to be quite a few.

September 2019
August 2019
Another one from August 2019
July 2019
January 2014 (yes, it was that long ago when I started it)




20 comments

  1. BEAUTIFUL WORK.... Love the machine and hand circular quilting on the first one .I too am curious on how to quilt the Midnight on the Oasis...

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    1. Thank you. After doing this spiral quilting, I want to do it again on a bigger project. I really enjoyed it.

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  2. Your improv quilt is beautiful! I love the profusion of fabrics and the wonderful circular hand quilting. I look forward to seeing the whole thing. As for the midnight quilt, I would probably quilt each set of blocks separately. It is a busy quilt so I would aim for the simplest design each set of blocks call for.

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    1. Thanks for your suggestion. I was thinking of some simple quilting too - possibly even just stitching in the ditch.

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  3. Anorina: I love both quilts, they are so full of color, very pretty.
    Minnesota USA is sending many firefighter's your way, I hope and pray rains come very soon, it is breaking my heart to hear all the sad news coming from this fire.
    I have been praying for the safety and of people and animals and the fire to stop.

    Catherine

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    1. Hi Catherine, thank you so much for your lovely message and to all of those extra firies on their way from your country. The last few days have actually been quite cool (comparatively) and we even had a little bit of rain last night which was exciting as it seems as though it's been a very long time since it rained. The fires nearest to me are still out of control but not at a catastrophic level. Hopefully more rain is on the way to put an end to it. Anorina xx

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  4. love the improv piece.... so bold and cheerful.. Highlighting the shapes is my choice of quilting....
    Hugz

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    1. Thanks Fiona. Bright and cheerful is my favourite.
      Thanks for your suggestion. I was thinking possibly stitching in the ditch around all of the different borders and then possibly some big stitch quilting around the applique to highlight those shapes. At this stage it's folded up on my shelf for further procrastination.

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  5. I too love your improv quilt and your quilting of it. This is my first time to your blog and I'm enjoying all your lovely work. As the the Midnight quilt it is so busy you don't need to worry about how you quilt it. You can go for extra work on it or simply quilt what is needed. Myself I would (after foundation quilting like stitch in the ditch) quilt feathers on the red fabric in the center, do echoing around the big applique flowers or teardrops. I would probably scatter some little designs throughout in the gray checks - little flowers, hearts, butterflies, swirls, etc. Just like it talk to you. I know you will do a great job on it.

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    1. Hi Linda, thank you for stopping by and for your suggestions. I love your ideas.
      At this stage, the quilt is finished and it's folded up on my shelf until I get some lightweight batting. I wonder how many projects I'll make before I get back finishing this quilt.

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  6. Gosh. Your quilt looks amazing! Well done. I love hand quilting and just looking at it some cross hatching and stitching in the ditch would be nice. I’ve seen the original a number of times as Jens shop used to be my LQS however I can’t recall the quilting although I’m 99% sure it was hand quilted. Look forward to seeing how you ended up quilting it.

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    1. Thank you so much!
      Oh how lucky for Jen's store to be your LQS! Visiting Amitie is definitely on my bucket list. I bet it's a beautiful store with a lot of inspiration from the moment you walk through the door.

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  7. With a quilt as colourful and varied as this, I'd want to let the colours and shapes speak loudest, and let the quilting be quiet and understated. My default for something like this is to do an overall 2" clamshell design in hand quilting, so that you get the gorgeous texture and softness of hand quilting without distracting from the cute design.

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    1. Hi Kate, thank you for stopping by and for your suggestion. I absolutely love the texture of hand quilting x

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  8. Love the improv quilt and circular quilting

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    1. Thank you so much. It was a lot of fun to do :)

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  9. Both projects are bold and beautiful! The machine and hand quilting looks really cool on your Midnight at the Oasis quilt. Happy stitching this week.

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    1. Thanks so much Kate. I really love this style of quilting and certainly want to do it again on other projects :)

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  10. Oh this is beautiful! I love the texture of the mixed hand and machine quilting!

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