I was really excited yesterday morning to get the binding sewn down to finish the Cocoa Leaf quilt. Before I jump to some finish photos, let’s pause and talk a bit about trimming such a large quilt with lots and lots of negative space.
Trimmed Cocoa Leaf Quilt
Bottom line: trimming a quilt like this is a challenge. I use carpenter’s squares, long metallic measuring tapes that I borrow from the garage, and the lines from the floor planks in my home to help eyeball “straight”. I measure across the top, middle, bottom and ponder. Then I measure across the left, center, and right and ponder some more. It takes time and patience. Another trick I like to use is to get it as close as I can with out over-trimming areas (if I’m worried), and then I fold the quilt in half and see how it naturally folds and lays on itself and trim it again with the overlap. That is an easy trick that can show the areas that are just a bit too wide.
Cocoa Leaf Quilt
I got a bit of a surprise when I went to cut the batting for the quilt top. I had thought I created a 72″ by 92″ quilt top, but I guess I really made a 72″ by ~100″ quilt top. So instead of just being a queen size topper, the quilt will either have a bit of overhang at the foot of a queen sized bed or offer the ability to tuck in pillows at the top!
Cocoa Leaf Quilt
Quilting is such a magical part of the quilt making process. It blends things together and gives a quilt a cohesive look, and I am especially fond of how quilting the leaf veins into the center medallion swirl finishes off this design. I used 50wt Aurifil 2309 (Silver White) on top and 50wit Aurifil 2000 (Light Sand) in the bobbin for the quilting. I had 2 brand new spools of large thread in those colors, which are just a shade or two different, and I knew that I would need more than one large spool for the project. I doubt anyone but me would ever know unless I told them there is a difference. And it worked perfectly as I used about 3/4 of each large spool or approximately 1.25 miles of thread! I used 50wt Aurifil 2715 (Robins Egg) to machine stitch down the binding (Kona Stratosphere).
Cocoa Leaf Quilt – Backing
The back of the quilt is solid Kona Stratosphere and I love how the quilting shows off the design in a more subtle way. The swirls were purposefully left to be more like ocean waves or swells as a nod to the fact that this quilt is going to live on the big island of Hawaii. The quilt finished at 67.5 inches wide by 95 inches long after first wash, and I used Quilter’s Dream Green batting.
Linking up with Finish it Friday.
Love the quilting in the leaves – really perfect for it!
Wow Yvonne, this is one stunning quilt! I love the quilting… perfect choices for thread as well. Wonderful with the idea of the waves pattern. Absolutely gorgeous! :)))
The detail in the leaves really set them off-both the veins and what you did between the veins–it looks like it’s the same pattern between veins on all the leaves? I also like how the swirls alternate directions!
Great finish!
Beautiful quilt and your quilting is amazing! I like how the view from the back really shows things off.
That is such a beautiful finish, and it looks fantastic on the bed! And that quilting…..sigh…makes me drool just a bit. 🙂 When I made the Twirl king size quilt, it ended up longer than we wanted too, so there was plenty for tucking around pillows. Thanks for sharing your method for squaring a quilt with negative space. Using the line of the flooring is genius!
Beautiful finish! I love the quilting you added, I agree that the quilting just pulls the quilt design together. Thanks for the tips on trimming quilts with lots of negative space, it is so difficult to get them to be completely rectangular.
What a pretty quilt and great quilting. Your squaring a quilt tips are really appreciated. Thank you.
This is such a beautiful project! I am always in awe of your quilting skills.
Your quilting is phenomenal!! Can you believe we’ve still never had the chance to sit down and sew with each other? Someday….
I enjoyed reading all about this one and it looks perfect for its intended location! Nicely done!
Gosh, it’s absolutely gorgeous!
A modern take on a traditional Hawaiian quilt! It’s beautiful and will look right at home there.
I do the same measuring, folding and trimming using my kitchen island edges and my longest rectangle and largest square rulers. I think my carpenter’s square migrated to my husband’s shop and never returned.
Again, Yvonne, a stellar finish!
It so gorgeous! And will be a beautiful addition to the already gorgeous Hawaii life! Squaring up can be a big nightmare! I use the lines of our tile, lines of the wood floor, rulers…eyeballing it! Good tips! Your quilting as always is inspiring!
Holly cow! The quilting really brought this quilt to life! They will love this. And thanks for sharing your process for trimming up a large quilt with lots of negative space. It can be quite tricky.
That is a very beautiful quilt. The quilting really sets it off.
The quilting on this is amazing Yvonne. Love that you converted thread consumption your to miles. 🙂
Gives one a whole new perspective.
Yvonne, this turned out incredibly well. I love the pops of colors and negative space. The quilting is amazing!!!
Gorgeous! I love the quilt, but I really really LOVE the back! Is that allowed? The quilting on that color just looks so fantastic! Beautiful finish!
Beautiful, Yvonne!
That is one lovely quilt! Great color scheme, layout, and quilting – well done!
Beautiful finish. The quilting is amazing. This would be an honour to have in any home.
It’s stunning! You really did quilt the life into this one 🙂 The quilting on the cocoa leaves is amazing and in the negative space those swirls are perfect. I can only imagine how pleased your cocoa farming customers will be!
Very beautiful. I appreciate reading about how you trim/square up a large quilt. I think the same can be said of smaller quilts, too. Amazing how much the quilt shrunk when washed.
You do beautiful work–Awesome!! Love the colors
This is really beautiful, Yvonne. And the quilting is absolutely perfect!
I can’t decide which side I like best–your quilting is just so amazing!
That’s a show piece. You did another amazing job with quilting.
Beautiful! Congrats on your finish.
This is stunning. I love all the detail and texture from the quilting. I think it is better to be too big instead of too small. 🙂
Good Evening Yvonne! This quilt is magnificent! The leaves in the center and arranged the way they are just made me ohhh and awww. Then looking at the the remainder of the quilt with the leaves in the quilt just add extra pizzazz. Now we add in your gorgeous quilting and WOWZERS you have totally created a masterpiece! I also really appreciate your tips on trimming a quilt. I know that those straight line panels on my floor offer assistance and your tip earlier of the carpenters tool I have been using since. Thank you for sharing and inspiring! Have a fantastic creative day!
it’s turned out absolutely beautifully!
What a fantastic finish! I too love the quilting, especially in the leaves. The veins are perfect! I too use my wood floors to aid in trimming.
Wow,this is gorgeous!!! I can’t stop looking at your quilting skills. Did you do this on your Juki? I love everything about this quilt and I wish I can reach into my monitor and “accidentally” take it with me.
I have one more question. Did you applique the leaves before quilting or while you are quilting? I always wonder how other people do it. Thank you very much for sharing.
oooh I love the similarities and differences to the first cocoa leaf quilt! It turned out gorgeous, I’m so impressed with how nicely the leaves line up!
Having just read the first post about this I can’t believe what the quilting has done – totally made this a gorgeous quilt!!!
I love what you have done with the quilting here!
This is a lovely finish! Squaring up improv quilts, especially large ones, is the one step that is difficult for me. Recently I have discovered a few things that help, but I’ll keep your tips in mind next time!
This quilt is absolutely stunning! I love the colours of the leaves and the quilting is sooooo cool. What an amazing finish!
Your quilting looks fab! Congrats on lovely finish!
Wow….every part is just fabulous…a real eye catcher. Lucky customer.
The quilting really makes this entire project amazing. It’s a really beautiful finish, Yvonne.