Union Jack

So many of the things I've been working on, or just finished, were for Christmas gifts and so I didn't dare take photos or post about them.  One I've been really excited about was a quilt I made for my sister.

Union Jacks are so trendy right now that I've seen a lot of Union Jack sewing projects floating around Pinterest, and I decided it would be really cool to make my sister a Union Jack throw quilt. She is a certifiable Anglophile, and I say that in the most loving way possible. Because as much as she loves England and all things British, I feel the same way about France. :-) She TA'ed for a professor through her (American) university for a study abroad in London, and absolutely loved it.

When I stumbled across Lynn's Jack Attack quilt along (months afterward...), I knew I had to make it for her. Lynn took care of all the measurements, and her diagrams were clear and easy to follow. It was by far the best tutorial I found, and it was exactly what I wanted for my sister. I did stumble just once while I was trying to orient the strips in the right direction, but figured out what I was doing wrong before stitching, which is obviously so nice. I don't think I had to unpick anything on this quilt (go me!).

Of course, I didn't do it exactly the same as the QAL...I decided to make one block in the traditional colors rather than three in diverse fabrics. I used beautiful kona cotton for the top. I increased the borders as large as I could to accommodate a minky backing without a seam and to even out the quilt to a more usable throw size. And with the changes, it went together really fast! I quickly had it off to Abby Latimer for quilting.

I had her quilt it with wind swirls; it's a penny-incher panto, and it's a great texture. It worked out beautifully.

I was really nervous about binding it because of the minky, but the clerk at the store I bought the minky at promised that once it had been quilted, it wouldn't be as stretchy, and she was so right. I'm really glad I didn't have to piece the back, but I'll definitely use minky again in the future. I'm still not ready to piece it together, but maybe for something not too wide like another lap quilt. I couldn't believe how soft it made the quilt. So much softer and less stiff than a quilt even with flannel.

My sister loved it, of course. And I decided I need a throw quilt backed with minky for me, too!

Completion Date: December 17, 2014