If you’ve followed my blog the last couple of months you may know that I have been working on a Churn Dash quilt. And I finally have a finish! I am celebrating over here this week!!
Last summer I picked up a Feed Company by Sweetwater layer cake at quilt shop in Colorado Springs. I didn’t have any plans for it, but I loved the Church Cookbook recipes print in the fabric line. Earlier this year we purchased a house in Oregon and I started rummaging through my stash trying to find the perfect fabrics to make a quilt for the house. I noticed the layer cake and knew instantly that it would become a Churn Dash quilt for the house. It had the farm house feel I wanted to decorate the house with. The decor didn’t turn out quite the way I envisioned, but this quilt will still be perfect!
I did struggle trying to finish this quilt. I was following THIS Churn Dash tutorial by Missouri Star Quilt Company. I loved how snowballing the corners of the block added diamonds to the quilt. I chose a red print from the line, but the print was just too subtle of a red. It didn’t give the quilt the pop I was expecting. And that’s when I started to lose my love of the quilt. It really took my Sewjo away. With the suggestion of a reader here, I decided a darker binding would help create a frame for the quilt and, in the end, I loved the way it turned out. I really had to force myself to get this one done, thus the “Churning Diamonds” title. The name incorporates the Churn Dash block, the diamonds created by the snowballed corners, and exactly how I felt trying to finish this quilt.
I chose the Church Cookbook print for the backing. I wanted only that print for the backing, but didn’t order quite enough yardage (as usual). I added the aqua plaid print because that happens to be my second favorite print in the line. I agonized overhow to quilt this for a while, and ultimately settled on an all-over swirl flower with a ribbon swirl and a leaf motif.
The border is a simple ribbon swirl. The quilting took longer than I expected because I was constantly stopping to check the direction I needed to go for the next flower. Despite that, I felt really comfortable quilting this, and didn’t worry so much about any mistakes I’ve made. I feel like my free-motion quilting is improving with each quilt. Knowing I was keeping the quilt for myself really took a lot of pressure off to try and make it “perfect”. Like that’s a real thing in quilting. Ha! I should note that I normally use Aurifil 40 weight for quilting. However, last summer I also bought a cone of Superior Omni 40 weight thread and decided to try and use that up. I didn’t realize it was a poly-wrapped poly thread until after I quilted it (so much for my paying attention to labels). It quilted fine, but I’ll see how it works out on my quilt once it comes out of the dryer.
I am glad this is done, and that I’ve fallen in love with it again. It will be heading to its home in three weeks! Now, for those who like details…
“Churning Diamonds”
Finished size
76″ x 88″
Pattern
Churn Dash Quilt
Fabric
Feed Company by Sweetwater Layer Cake, Kona Snow Layer Cake (Top)
Feed Company by Sweetwater Butter Churn print in Red (Border)
Feed Company by Sweetwater Church Cookbook and Aqua Plaid prints (Backing)
Feed Company by Sweetwater Bandana in Navy print (Binding)
Batting
Warm & Natural
Thread
Pieced with Aurifil 50 wt 2309
Quilted with Superior Omni 40 Wt 3002
Binding stitched with Aurifil 40 wt. 2000
Quilting
Free-motion all over Swirl Flower
Finished
September 14, 2016
Linking up with:
TGIFF hosted by Adrienne of chezzetcook
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop hosted by Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finish It Up Friday hosted by Crazy Mom Quilts
Finished {or Not} Friday hosted by Busy Hands Quilts
Stitch ALL The Things 
I’m so happy to hear you have fallen for your Churning Diamonds quilt all over again. I think it turned out superb. Great back & binding choices. I didn’t realize you use a 40 weight for quilting. I’ll have to keep that in mind for future quilts.
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Thank you! I like 40 weight because it doesn’t blend into the background as much as 50wt does. It shows up just enough to show the quilting stitches, but not so well that you see all the mistakes!
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I think the quilt looks wonderful – but I get that ‘sick and tired of this quilt’ feeling. The quilting is great too. I’m a free-motion fan myself, and I agree, it gets better with practise (just like everybody says!). Thanks for sharing it – a lovely encouragement too.
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Thank you! This was my first experience with not loving a quilt halfway through making it. I am glad I pushed myself to get it done and loved how it turned out after all!
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The softer red diamonds work very well; they add a subtle pop that doesn’t fight with the churn dashes. The dark binding was a fantastic idea and your quilting is AMAZEBALLS! This is one of my very favorite quilts that you’ve made!
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Aw, thanks!! I am loving it now too. I’ve got it draped over the back of the couch so I can enjoy it for a bit before Brad takes it to Oregon in a couple of weeks. I think this may be one of my most favorites too!
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What a beautiful quilt!! I like the subtleness of the diamonds, especially you see it again in the outside border. Love the recipe book on the back!!
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Thank you so much! That recipes print is what sold me on the whole line! I love it!!
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Nice quilt. I’ve always loved churn dash blocks.
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Thank you! I love the churn dash block too, and I am sure this will not be my only churn dash quilt!
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Love how this turned out, the fabric is cute (I have used the same line for a quilt and was happy with how it turned out.). The secondary pattern, the diamonds are a great surprise with the turn dash.
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Thank you so much! I do love this fabric line. I bought extra yardage earlier on to make double-sided placemats and napkins. I plan on making some mug rugs with the left overs. It’s just too fun not to use all of it!
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LOVE LOVE LOVE! I am so glad you were able to love this quilt again after your struggles with it! It turned out beautifully!
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Thank you! I am so glad too!!
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This is a beautiful quilt.
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Thank you very much!
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It’s beautiful! Love the timeless pattern of the Churn Dash.
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Thank you so much! It’s such a simple block, but I really love how it looks!
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Love this quilt. I have such a thing for churn dashes these days. Must actually make some! Thanks for linking up with the Party!
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Thank you! I love how this block looks in a quilt so much that I am sure there’s at least one more churn dash quilt in my future!
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I love the way the quilt turned out and it will look perfect in the new house. It is beautiful.
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Thank you! I think the darker binding really helped a lot. You can’t see it so much in the pictures (the lighting was horrible the day I took the pictures), but in “real life” the darker binding really frames it all up nicely!
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