Resonance: A 100 Day Quilt Project

May 22, 2018

My 100 Day Quilt project was a success, and I want to thank everyone who followed the progress on Instagram!  Resonance is the ultimate result.  It was named in reference to the quilting stitches which echo out from a central point.  If you would like to know more about the start of the project, check out the first post about the 100 Day Circle Quilt Project.

Resonance front view

Constructing the blocks for the quilt took the most time- 89 days.  Most blocks had two-three concentric circles, but several included multiple circles set near each other.  Here are a couple of examples:

Block 89

Block 8

The next two days were spent trimming the blocks to their finished size.

Trimmed Blocks

Laying the quilt out was a bit tricky.  Since it was too large for my design wall, I cleared out the kitchen and arranged the blocks on the floor.  This photo was taken with my phone touching the ceiling, and I still couldn’t get far enough away to capture the entire quilt design.

Block Layout

After a couple more days, the quilt top was finished.

Quilt Top

There were 13 different colors of thread used to quilt the project.  A different thread was used for each fabric.  This extended the color beyond the edge of each circle, and ensured that the back, as well as the front of the quilt, would show each color change.  I knew that I would want lots of lines of stitching around each circle, so I decided to use 50wt thread so I could do lots of stitching without excessive thread build up.

Quilting Thread

Here is the quilt loaded and basted on the longarm.

Loaded Quilt

The quilting process took quite a long time.  I quilted each circle from the inside out to prevent bunching in the fabric, so there were a lot of thread changes.

Circle Quilting Process

Once the circles were quilted, I did large scale bubble quilting in the background.

Quilting Process

 

Resonance Detail 1

 

Angled Quilting Detail

There were more than a million quilting stitches in this project.  I’m pretty sure that is a personal record!

Stitch Counter

The binding is mostly white, with some sporadic shots of color.

Binding

I love the way the back of the quilt looks!

Resonance back view

To cap it off, Aurifil asked to use this quilt in their booth at Spring Market this past weekend!  This is my first quilt to be included at a Quilt Market, so I was very excited!

Photo courtesy of Sylvia of Flying Parrot Quilts

Photo courtesy of Sylvia of Flying Parrot Quilts

Photo courtesy of Aurifil

Photo courtesy of Aurifil

Quilt Stats

Title:  Resonance

Size: 79″ x 79″

Techniques:  Hand Applique, Machine Piecing

Quilting:  Free motion quilting with an A-1 Longarm machine

Fabric:  Assorted solids and white-on-white prints

Batting:  Hobbs Tuscany Wool

Thread: Quilted with 50wt cotton Aurifil in 13 colors

Binding:  White Kona Cotton with colorful inserts, cut on the bias at 2″ wide, machine stitched to the front, hand finished

15 Comments

  • Reply
    Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
    May 22, 2018 at 9:38 am

    It’s a stunning quilt, Cassandra, and it was fun to follow your progress during the 100 days you worked on it. I love that you chose to change your thread color so much and how it reads on the back of the quilt.

  • Reply
    Marla Varner
    May 22, 2018 at 10:36 am

    Cassandra, I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again…this quilt is just amazing and the quilting is really what sets it apart! I predict happy times for you and this quilt in the future and I hope to see it in person one of these days.❤️

  • Reply
    Rochelle Summers
    May 22, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    I am blown away. This is so amazing. All the colors, the thread changes, the stitching and the final look. Congratulations on the project from concept to completion.

  • Reply
    Afton
    May 22, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    This is so very cool. I can see why Aurifil sought it out for their booth. Amazing color and texture, use of thread and negative space, and what appears to be hand appliqué.

  • Reply
    janet white
    May 22, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    Love your posts, love your work. Thanks for sharing your process.

  • Reply
    Marlene
    May 22, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    Wow! Just stunning. Too bad they couldn’t display it so that both sides were visible. The back is as beautiful as the front.

  • Reply
    Genevieve C
    May 22, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    Kudo’s Cassandra, you did a fantastic job. Thanks for showing this to beautiful quilt to everyone.

  • Reply
    Laura
    May 22, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    Really stunning quilt. I enjoyed following along on IG and the finished project is just incredible – I especially love the effect of the thread colors blending the circles (plus the back is just as great as the front). Thanks for sharing your process with us!

  • Reply
    Dianne
    May 24, 2018 at 12:03 pm

    Cassandra

    I saw this at Quilt Market and loved it. So nice to get to see your process in this post. Keep up the creative work.

    Dianne

  • Reply
    Mary
    May 27, 2018 at 5:06 pm

    I love hoe the circles occupy space but not in the same location in each block. Dynamic quilting, too.

  • Reply
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