Anna Banana!

Bea-naners Quilt

WooHoo!  I finished a pixel quilt.  Ok, I've done a pixel quilt before, Tula Pink's Anchor Aweigh here, but this is the first pixel quilt I've designed.  I was inspired to do a quilt of my english springer spaniel, Anne, after seeing Andi Herman's pixel pup on the cover of the current issue of Love of Patchwork and Quilting magazine.

After seeing a preview of the up coming issue I started designing my quilt.  I laboriously converted a photo to a pixel quilt pattern via Photoshop.  I've since learned that there is a great (free) tutorial on Craftsy by Caro Sheridan, here, and a software program by Andi Herman, You Patch, here, that are great for designing pixel quilts.  I added the color registration marks at the end for fun and to be a little different.

Bea-naners Quilt Progression

I'm very happy with the outcome and I even got Anne, who obviously has several nicknames all revolving around Anna Banana the most popular being Bea, to sit for a photo.

Anne with her quilt Bea-naners

Here is a shot of the quilting and back nothing fancy I wanted to make sure I didn't muddy the picture or the pixel effect.  The finished quilt size is 50" x 60", so a decent size throw.  I typically design my quilts to be one of two sizes 50" x 60" or 60" by 72".

Quilting Texture Detail

"Registration Marks" Quilting and Piecing

Bea-naners Quilt Back - Cotton and Steel Picnic by Melody Miller

I also wanted to share a little of my washing method when I finish a quilt.  As a mentioned before, here, I wash my quilts but I don't put them in the dryer.  After I have washed my quilt, using both detergent and color catchers, I lay my quilt on the floor straighten the edges trying to square up the quilt as much as possible, I have heard of people using laser levels to box their quilts while wet but I'm not that particular.  After I have it where I like it I point a fan on the quilt and let it air dry.  I typically do this right before bed to avoid my daughter or my dogs running across the quilt.  I've never had a quilt not dry by morning but I also live is an arid part of the country.

Bea-naners Quilt Drying

Lastly, I've already started my next quilt.  No name yet but I was inspired by two fantastic quilts.  The first was a quilt I saw a year ago, Mary Stanely's Lake Quilt:

Mary Stanely's Lake Quilt

The second quilt was a winner at the 2016 Quiltcon and I got to see how wonderful it was in person!  It's Mickey Beebe's Eichler Homes quilt:

Mickey Beebe's Eichler Homes

Here's the quilt I designed:

New Design

As you can see it has a similar feel and color pallet to the two inspiration quilts.  More to come...