Modern Bicycle Quilt

My modern bicycle quilt is finished!  It’s feels urban, 1960′s-ish and gritty to me. It’s different than any quilt I’ve made before.  I got the pattern from the International Quilt Festival Quilt Scene magazine: winter 2011/2012 edition.  This particular pattern was created by Elizabeth Hartman who blogs at Oh Franson.  What talent!  The pattern instructions were very well documented, accurate and easy to follow once I wrapped my head around something so non-traditional.

I ordered the fabrics from Fabricworm. They are all organic cotton and I’ve since become a Fabricworm fan – especially with some of the weekly specials they run. What I like in this quilt are the squares and rectangles of brightly colored prints and the way they appear to be floating on a solid gray background.  Adds to the urban feel of it.  Wouldn’t this chair and bicycle pillow look nice in the same room?

Pillow from Jenna Rose on Etsy

I DO have this thing for bikes.  In fact, I have a whole board dedicated to them at The Monkey’s Pinterest site.  And aren’t these bicycle glasses fun?

Credit: Vital Industries at Etsy

The only thing I changed on this quilt was the back.  I used a big gray and white polka-dot pattern with an off centered strip of pieces from the front of the quilt.

Oh – and I also purposely pieced the binding – with random-ness.  For just a little more grit.

Not sure I’m happy with the way it was quilted.  I don’t like the swirls as much as I would have liked a geometric, linear pattern.  But overall – I’m happy to have tried something new and with a whole lot of “hip.”  The only thing left to do is to roll it up in my bicycle basket and take it on a picnic.  With Pink Monkey, of course.