Zakka Block Quilt Finished size = 46 X 60 inches
Yippee! I got the quilt done and I LOVE it! I thought I had gotten a jump on this project by deciding the layout a few weeks ago. However, all the sewing, quilting and binding was done this week – mostly in the past 3 days. Luckily my husband was out of town and I didn’t have too many other responsibilities.
Blocks and stitching
I used a charm pack of woven japanese fabrics which are 4″ square. There were 70 squares in the package and I needed 72. I supplemented by cutting some similar fat quarters that I had. I used cream colored linen for the rest of the top and a cotton fabric for the binding and back.
Serged quilt back
I put the quilt together with my serger. The linen and the woven fabrics were a loose enough weave that they were fraying like crazy so I thought this would be a good idea. Look at how neat the back is! I’ve only used my serger for garment construction and edge finishing (150 cloth napkins for my daughter’s wedding) in the past. This project was the PERFECT project to serge because of all the straight lines and it went together very quickly this way.
Close up of binding and hand stitching
I did stitch in the ditch with thread that matches the linen along the seams on the top and bottom of the blocks. This did a good job of stabilizing the quilt. This loosely woven linen really wanted to lose it’s shape. Next I did the hand stitching with a thick pearl cotton thread. The hand stitching was definitely the most time consuming part of this project, but I’m SO happy that I did it because I love how it looks and it reminds me of sashiko stitching which seems appropriate with my japanese fabrics.
Finished Quilt
I wonder how many other Zakka Sew Along sewers are scrambling to get their quilts done today in order to link up for this weeks “prize”. Good luck everyone!
I Finally Have Time 
I love it! fantastic job!
I’m almost there! A bit of stitching yet to do, and then sew on the binding. I’ll make it, though!
Your quilt looks great. I love the straight stitch between rows.
Linda,
It’s great. you have certainly been a busy bee this week.
Love the hand stitching.
Alice
This is a simple and elegant version of the project. I like the tips you gave about using an overlocker to hold the seams when using linen – I would never have thought of that but it makes complete sense. The handstitching gives it a lovely delicate finish. I have been handstitching a quilt this month and am definitely loving the results despite the time consumption.
It looks great! Glad you went with the hand quilting. You accomplished a lot in one week!
Linda, I am so impressed with your attention to detail! This is beautiful and I would love to see it in person. The hand stitching is so fine! Great job!
The quilt is beautiful. You were really busy. The hand stitching adds a great touch.
That’s a real beauty, I’ve got it in my favorites on flickr. Just wanted to come over and read about how you did it.