This was one HUGE quilt! I reckon it took me well over 12 hours to quilt.
First, I stitched ESS (‘every stinkin’ seam) around all the blocks to stabilise it. Then I tackled one block at a time, deciding how to quilt it, then selecting thread colours, then doing the quilting. Some of the quilting is VERY dense and took ages.
I’m not going to attempt to document the threads I used as there were so many, and as I did this quilt over a couple of weekends, with a week-long trip to Bali in between 😉 There’s no way I remember what I used!
(Click on a photo to view it larger.)
This photo isn’t as good as I would’ve liked… The bubbles (baubles?) in the Christmas tree are all stitched in gold metallic thread and shine brightly 😉
Yes, I stitched every second row of that checkered fabric, vertically and horizontally…
I stitched the centre flowers in the stars in gold metallic thread and really liked the effect
Another one where I stitched every single cross-hatch in the fabric…
I really like McTavishing, but it uses an incredible amount of thread and takes a long time, so I tend to only do it in small areas, like the background of this tulip block. To make the tulip ‘pop’ even more, I echo stitched about a quarter inch from it before dong the McTavishing.
I used a gingko leaf motif in the background. I hadn’t stitched that design in ages — I should use it more often as it’s a great filler.
I wasn’t sure what to do in the border as this quilt had a LOT of quilting. So I decided to do large ‘petals’ with a smaller inner petal (or flame), and then once I’d finished all around the quilt, I went back and echo stitched around them all. I quite liked the final effect.
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 
Love the tulip w/ the McTavishing plus all the grid backgrounds plus, well, I guess I love it all!……….
Love it all, too. I’m going to steal the way they did the butterfly (or dragonfly?) for my Yellowstone quilt. All the quilts you show are spectacular! Does the charity you make them for sell them and use the money to help, or do they donate the quilts directly to people who need them?
Hi Dawn
Thanks for your lovely comments on my quilts. Some of the quilts go direct to the recipients at the various charities, and a few special ones get auctioned off to raise money for those charities. This one may become one of those.
More about the Community Quilts program I quilt for, and the groups who receive these quilts: http://waquilters.com/community-quilts/
–Rhonda