Monday, October 25, 2010

Route 44

On the back of the Route 44 pattern by Carrie Nelson, she says, "Route 44? It's not a road but it will sure transport you to happiness."

I could not agree more.


My road is over, but I loved every minute of the journey.

I started planning this project as soon as I saw that Carrie Nelson was teaching a class sponsored by the Quilter's General Store in Rockford, Illinois, back in January!! Now, 10 months later, the journey is over.

I'm so happy I have such a lovely quilt to remember my trip and happy that I picked Saltbox Harvest by Deb Strain for Moda for my fabric. I happily cut, pieced and sewed this quilt top. It went together like a dream. Some projects are just like that, all fun and no work!!

Even the border was fun,


but a lot of Carrie's patterns are like that, why stop having fun just because the center of the quilt is finished, why not go for just a little more fun in the border.

So after you attach the 2 inch containment border, Carrie throws in some eye candy before adding the outer border. The eye candy is a 1 1/2 inch scrappy pieced strip, surrounded on each side by a 1/2 inch strip of background fabric. I think this small little detail adds so much charm to the quilt.

In class, Carrie suggested sewing the three pieces of that middle eye candy border together, then attaching that unit to the containment border, leaving some extra fabric on each end, then connecting all the ends once all 4 side units have been added. That's what I did, and it worked out great. Since I don't quilt my tops, I'm just not that experienced at working with bulk, it was nice to only go around the containment border once with the middle border unit, then one last time with the outer border.


This is my lifetime quilt #61.

It has approximately 1,464 pieces.

And finished at 78" x 78"

Carrie named this pattern for Camille Roskelly, the designer of the Simple Abundance fabric Carrie used on her project,

the quilt that's on the pattern cover. Camille loves Route 44 Dr. Peppers available at Sonic Drive Ins. I didn't use Simple Abundance for my top, or drink any Dr. Pepper while making this quilt, so my quilt probably needs a different name. But after calling it Route 44 for 10 months, I'm not sure calling it something else is possible.

Lisa/Stashmaster and Nicole/Sisters Choice, fellow bloggers who I met for the first time while attending this class, are also working away on their Route 44 projects. They chose different fabric, so be sure to check out their blogs for their finished quilts, coming soon I'm sure.

I'm also hoping to hear from my fellow Route 44 classmates, and hoping I get to see their finished projects as well. One quilter was using the William Morris Workshop family of fabrics, I would love to see that one all done.

This pattern is a great stash buster, all you need is 3 yards of primary fabric (my red dot fabric) then pull colors from the primary fabric from your stash for the 4 patches, the more fabric the better. I think going scrappy with the background fabric would look great too!

What are you waiting for, here's your route to happiness.....

24 comments:

  1. It looks wonderful, Thelma! I love the pieced border! Congratulations on another great finish!

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  2. Thelma it is absolutely spectacular...I love it! How wonderful that your Route 44 brought you to a gorgeous quilt, new friends and very fond memories.

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  3. It's a gorgeous quilt and the border really sets off the quilt.

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  4. Fabulous finish! Love every piece of it, and you're right...that border is phenomenal.

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  5. This one promised to be outstanding but it has surpassed all expectations. Wow! Love Love Love it. The colors just came together beautifully. I find it funny that in the original pattern that inner scrap border doesn't stand out too much but your version adds really pulls it back into the design. Great Job Thelma!

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  6. What a fun bunch of color in your quilt! You've inspired me to try it! But, then, I always love your quilts Thelma!

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  7. I love it Thelma! The colors are so bright and cheerful. Looks like a fabulous pattern.

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  8. Wow that was fast! All those borders...way to go! I would have procrastinated that forever!

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  9. Beautiful! Your top photo is very cool.

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  10. I really love this quilt...can't wait to make it...think I've said that before! But I really have enjoyed following along on your journey!

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  11. Looks fantastic! I would be very proud of this quilt, the fabrics really complement the pattern. Can't wait to see what you choose next!

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  12. I am about to put on the middle borders today. I had forgotten Carrie's advice to sew the two narrow units to the pieced middle section and sew it on as if it were one piece. I am so glad you reminded me!

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  13. That is beautiful Thelma! Thanks for telling us about your journey down 'Route 44' too!

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  14. It's wonderful and I loved the description of the quilt.

    Love and hugs GIna xxx

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  15. What a stunning quilt! My pattern is in the mail and I can't wait to make it!

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  16. Outstanding! Her patterns (I think) are some of the best in the business not only for the designs but also because of the ease of putting them together. You made another great quilt.

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  17. That is beautiful! Does that mean you mitered the corners? I haven't tried that yet.

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  18. Your quilt is just beautiful, Thelma! I hope I'm this happy after finishing mine as you are!

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  19. I just read Nicole's post and looked again at your borders. No, you did not miter them. That is a wonderful plan and makes sense to me now.

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  20. Another beauty! I love all the colors!

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  21. I love your quilt, Route 44 or maybe it should be called Interstate because you all came together in the end for the class. What a fun journey! And the border is beautiful as well!

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  22. Thelma, I was in the class with you and am still working on Route 44. I thought about giving up on the pieced border and just putting a 2" and 5" inch border instead. But my friends made me 'see the light' and make the border like Carrie did. I just started working on it and it's not as bad as I thought. I've loved reading about Route 44 as you've been piecing it.

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