Spider web blocks are not the fastest quilt blocks I've ever constructed and this quilt has taken me quite a while to complete. It was put away for a while but it is enjoyable seeing the pattern emerges as it grows and this was the year to get it done. I made the first few blocks as part of the Art Gallery Fabrics Quilt Block Collection Blog Tour back in 2017 and had only made 10 blocks when I pulled it out.


I got to work only to realise that I would run out of fabric. This quilt is for my Dad, he didn't want a big quilt but even so I wanted it to be big enough. Thankfully I managed to find a few of the prints online in the UK and as a couple of the prints have striped patterns I decided to make the most of what I bought and just cut triangles from the fabric rather than piecing strips. So part of this quilt is cheating.


It totally works though and is hardly that noticeable right?!
The fabrics worked beautifully to create light and dark webs and the earthy colours are so pretty. The picture at the very top is closest to the real life colour, since it's winter now it is harder to capture on camera. The solid is Pure Elements in Toasty Walnut and I am so pleased I picked that as the background colour. It's a bit different for me but it is totally reminiscent of the Southwestern style, land and warmth.






The tutorial for making the blocks can be found HERE on the AGF blog, with links to written instructions as well as a YouTube tutorial.

Right from the start I knew I wanted to hand tie this quilt, the intersections of the background are the perfect place for some added texture. I used perle thread in two colours, with a lighter colour in the central part of the quilt and a warmer tone tie on the outer blocks. Because why not mix it up a bit?!
 

Once the quilt was tied I added some machine quilting, echoing the octagon shape inside the web. It would have been really difficult to tie the centre of the web and I didn't want to add ties to the piecing, though that could have been an option. I used Aurifil 40wt #2930 Golden Toast for the machine quilting, a lovely warm shade.


I should try to press quilts that have been folded up before photographing them but this was a quick shoot as we headed off to deliver the quilt to my Dad at Christmas. The minimal quilting does make it very soft and floppy, which I really like and hand tying is SO quick and fun to do.


The finished quilt is 60 x 60", a nice sized throw quilt.


The backing is a lovely print that I knew my Dad would like; Pearl in Aegean, Diving Board by Alison Glass. Below you can just spot the back of the ties.


The binding is scrappy, made up of Arizona After fabric and it worked out so well. The prints made great binding and picked out the dark and light colours of the quilt nicely.



Happily my Dad loves the quilt, which I have named On the Road Again - as we had a couple of road trips through Southwestern states in the US when I was younger, it would be lovely to do that again one day.

This was the second quilt I finished in 2020. I really am going to make an effort to progress this year on finishing up all the quilt tops and unfinished projects I have stashed away. It feels good getting them done and gifting them to be loved!! Maybe more hand tying is on the cards...


If you are keen to learn how to tie a quilt, I am teaching an online class on hand tying quilts (securely and effectively!) along with how to do big stitch quilting. Visit Crafty Monkies for details.