Quilt 87: The Kaufman "Trieste" in Blue - DONE!

A couple of weeks ago I told you about a quilt I put together for my friend Janet.  She loved the Robert Kaufman "Trieste" jewel tones panel, as I did, and wanted a quilt made with it.  As I mentioned last week, I had a bad time finding a true blue tone to match the blues in the panel's center - and instead went with a teal shade which matched the thin teal border in the panel itself.  And then...  ...after hunting for MONTHS (I kid you not), just as I was finishing the quilt, I found the true blue I'd been looking for.

HOORAY!  I've got more of the panels, so making another one would be no problem. I contacted Janet - who was fine with waiting another week for her quilt - and got busy making another.  My friend Joanne visited me at about this time - saw the teal quilt (I'd finished it) and bought it instantly.  So it was win-win-win all the way around! 

I also stumbled over the coordinating print that I'd bought at the same time as the panels.  Have a look:

(doubleclick any picture on this page for a larger image)

In the photo above, the coordinating print is on top, with the blue beneath and the panel on the bottom.  I've also got metallic gold and metallic red/gold fabric (also Robert Kaufman) for the borders.  Now to decide how to border this panel.  Here's what I came up with:

We definitely want the metallic gold and red/gold fabrics in this - but the red is a bit problematic; it doesn't play well with the blue.  The best fabric to place immediately outside the panel (in the center) is definitely the blue.  Gold is the best pairing next, and the red and gold fabrics go together, so a thin band of red next, then the coordinating "medallions" print next.  In the design above, the medallions go where my design shows white in the borders.

But wait.

There's a problem. In the photo below, I've placed the medallions of the center panel just above the medallion print.  Look carefully at how the medallions match up.  Start with the ones on the left and then look toward the right... and yes!  You see it, don't you?  The medallions in the panel are spaced just a tiny bit further apart than the ones in the coordinating print!  What a headache!


But I came up with a solution.  Have a look at the image below:

Look at the red medallion in the center.  I lined up the medallions there, in the center of the border panel, and as the 2 prints gradually deviate going left and going right, your eye just doesn't really "see" it so much.  Whew!

Here it is on the longarm:

 
I used the "Blustery Breeze" groovy boards for the quilting pattern and Signature Thread's "chamois" (pale matt gold) thread.  As you can see in the photo below, the thread fades well into the complex center design - exactly what I want it to do.


And below is the top with the backing (solid gold homespun).  The edging is the metallic gold Kaufman print.

It only took about 4 hours to do the quilting - pretty fast!

And here's the final quilt:

50" x 68" - quilted on the longarm ("Blustery Breeze" groovy boards) - polyester batting

I delivered the quilt to Janet yesterday.  I'm very pleased to say that she loves it!