Figure Eight Quilt

If I had to pick my favourite thing about this quilt, it would be the bicycle print fabric!  The colors are fun, and certainly the quilting was fun, but honestly, those bicycles …

I had all the solids in stock and was looking for a grey background and for some reason the picture on the quilt pattern made me think of bicycles.  The print used was actually slices of orange or lemon or something from the citrus family, and it was used on the eights instead of the background which was solid grey, but the slices made me think of  bicycle wheels and the idea stuck in my head so that’s what I wanted to use.  I was happy to find it online at one of my regular go-to shops and, although I loved it, I only ordered enough for this one quilt because I never like to over commit and then find out it isn’t as sweet as it looked!  However, as soon as it arrived I was hooked and I immediately placed an order for LOTS more.

And then I got the backorder notice.  Still hopeful, I waited it out.  But after six weeks I was informed that they could no longer get it.  Thankfully, I managed to find some still in stock on another site so I grabbed it and it’s currently on its way to my little stash pile.  Yay!  I think it will work for various projects because 1) it’s grey, which goes with many other colors and is trending everywhere, and 2) IT’S BICYCLES!

This pattern is called “Eight O’Clock” and it’s from the book Modern One-Block Quilts by Natalia Bonner and Kathleen Whiting.  Yes, this is the fifth quilt from their book that I have made.  Me, the person who isn’t typically “into” using patterns!  If you are, and you like modern quilts, then Get. That. Book. It’s really cool.

I liked Natalia’s close together wavy little line background stitching idea so I did that myself, and then I changed up the stitching for the solid colors.  She used a ribbon candy design – which looked great – but I’m currently on a kick to get this darn wishbone into as many different shaped areas as I can so that’s what I chose.

It’s colourful, kind of trendy looking, and big enough to use as a coverlet on a twin bed, or even a double if it’s a second layer or a folded up accent at the foot end.  And of course, it works as a large throw too 🙂

Here is a video showing some of my stitching on this quilt.