Thursday, March 21, 2019

Japanese 🇯🇵 Gypsy Wife

Here's my Gypsy Wife quilt!!! I sewed the blocks in 2018 as a QAL (quilt along) with two groups I belong to. Then I spent all of January and the first half of February assembling and finishing it, in order to enter it in our quilt show on February 15th.

As it says in the pattern, putting these blocks together "is a journey"! In other words, it's a lot of work, just when you thought you were done with a lot of work, AKA sewing zillions of random blocks! 
Below are my blocks on the design wall. I recommend labeling each one with the finished size in inches. Then when it's laid out on the design wall, you can switch blocks that are the exact same size and spread out the color arrangement. This is before rearrangement:


The pattern makes a quilt that finishes at 59" X 68", which is not a very useful size for me--I don't have any wall space to hang such a big quilt, and it's too fancy for a sofa throw quilt. So after surrounding the body of the quilt with a narrow indigo border, I carried the background strips into the outside and added a 10" border. Halfway there:

Here are my background strips, trying to keep them in order! 
The finished size came out 81" X 90", just right for a full size bed. Quilt top:

I used wool batting and did custom quilting on each block:

All my fabrics are Japanese, either vintage, recycled or modern reproductions of traditional prints: 







Here's my finished quilt hanging at the quilt show:

Below are Sunny's quilt (left) and Arlette's quilt (right):

And here's Jeanette's version:

I was honored to get a second place ribbon on mine:

Gypsy Wife is quite a journey! If you haven't taken the journey yet, I recommend it.


Grace and peace!!! ~Nancy
  
Linking up to: Midweek MakersWednesday Wait LossNeedle & Thread ThursdayTGIFF, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Friday Foto Fun, Busy Hands Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Sew Can She, Favorite March Finish.

34 comments:

  1. Wow, that looks like so much hard work, and so beautiful! I love it when you use Japanese fabrics. I can tell immediately that it's Japanese fabrics, they have such a distinct look to them! And I'll bet the texture is wonderful. Congratulations on your ribbon!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations on the honor; your quilt is beautiful. I am participating in a GW QAL and would love to have your permission to share your quilt with our group.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nancy, it’s an amazing work! And I love how you made it larger to fit a bed. It deserves to be displayed that way

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love your 'Gypsy Wife' quilt. So nice to see such a different version of this popular pattern. I've made one in scrappy vintage fabrics which I love, but have stalled on my 2nd version in more 'modern' fabrics.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a masterpiece! Amazing quilt.
    Quilter Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
  6. This quilt is even prettier in person :-) I do like the added border (hadn't considered that on mine). Not sure how I'm going to do the layout of mine, since I don't have a large design wall. Now I'm eager to finish mine! All three of your GW quilts are lovely. Congrats on the second place award!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great job, Nancy! Your Japanese Gypsy is beautiful. I especially love how your quilting motifs on the navy fabrics remind me of sashiko. Congratulations on that ribbon!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I kind of think you got ripped off! That definitely is first place worthy! One of the most visually appealing Gypsies I've seen! Love how you incorporated the border, and the quilting is stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations! I love your background fabrics and great border design to enlarge.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nancy, I really love your Gypsy's Wife. The colors are wonderful together - one of my favorites, and the way you augmented the size added to the aesthetics. The swirls in the background quilting are just right!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Nancy! Big huge congrats on the ribbon. I am not one bit surprised that you won a ribbon as this is a beautiful finish. I love the thin border you added and then expanded it to the size you preferred. I'm going to keep that in mind next time I want to do that. In fact, I think some PINing is needed. I wish I could take a look at this first hand - I'd love to see your custom quilting. ~smile~ Roseanne

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congratulations! Awesome! What a beautiful quilt! The quilting is fabulous. too. I love this pattern. Never made a Gypsy Wife quilt, but enjoy seeing these quilts at quilt shows.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow that is just a stunning quilt!! I am glad you did all the work so I could see it!! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Congratulations! This finish is an inspiration. I'm in the middle of my own Gypsy Wife quilt -- in all Bonnie and Camille fabrics -- and it's daunting to say the least.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love your version of Gypsy Wife--beautiful!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh wow Nancy, it's just glorious!! I truly can't imagine making one, but they are so fun to look at, thanks for sharing them with us.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Beautiful, Nancy! I enjoy seeing Gypsy Wife quilts but think that this is a journey I will watch from afar :) Your fabrics make your version even more special. I really like the addition of the striped outer border.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This quilt is absolutely stunning and deserves its ribbon! I love Japanese Fabric. I really love the light background and the indigo fabrics. So well done.

    ReplyDelete
  19. This quilt is just stunning! I certainly understand why it got a ribbon. Many, many congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Congratualatuons on a well earned ribbon, its glorious.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Your quilt came together beautifully! Being awarded the ribbon reinforces my opinion. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  22. So intricate and so lovely!
    Dalene,An admirer

    ReplyDelete
  23. Love your version of Gypsy Wife. The muted background strips allow the blocks to shine. Congrats on the ribbon!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi Nancy, your quilt is really stunning. Those muted strips really add a lot to it. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  25. WOW! I love your quilt! It's awesome! Great job on your ribbon too! So great!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I've never seen a GW done in Japanese fabrics. Yours is just stunning, Nancy! The muted colors (so classic!) and the extension of the GW strips into the borders makes for a truly unique quilt. And of course your quilting is divine! You really knocked it out of the park :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Really love your version, and all the other versions you showed. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Love the colors and your quilting! This is on my list - will get to it sometime. There so many color options I can't decide on one.

    ReplyDelete
  29. That might be the prettiest one I've seen yet. Congratulations on the finish and the ribbon.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Nancy, this is probably the most beautiful rendering of this pattern I’ve seen. Thank you so much for sharing your photos!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Stunning quilt! I love how you combined all of the different blocks, prints, and colors together into one cohesive quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Очень красивый подбор цветов. Браво!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...