Herringbone Charm Pack Quilt

All year long I look forward to one quilt retreat. I’m a working mom with a small child, and this quilt retreat is close enough to my house that I can go home each evening for a bit and then come back, and sleep in my own bed.  Plus I’ve gotten to know many of the attendees over the years and a couple of close friends also go. If you’ve never attended a retreat before, it’s a blast! I always have a bunch of new ideas when I leave, too.

I actually had a finish this year, the above throw quilt whose top has been sitting in a box for two years. I made the top at that year’s retreat from four charm packs. Two print packs (a Moda floral whose name I can’t remember, and a Bonnie and Camille line called April Showers) and two packs of Bella Solids white. I made half square triangles from the lot and put them together in this herringbone pattern. This was one of those tops that I swear I’ve made four times because I kept doing it wrong and having to rip out and start over. That herringbone pattern is deceptively simple, and for me, it was very easy to not notice when I had the blocks laid out backwards.

 

I used a blue plaid for the back and machine quilted with vertical stripes about an inch apart. I did a very lazy binding by wrapping the backing around – a suggestion from a knowledgeable retreat attendee when I said this was a quilt for using and I wanted to get it finished. I love the way the plaid binding frames the edges.

And here’s the quilt about five minutes after I brought it home. My daughter tucked several “friends” under it and laid down. There’s no better compliment for a quilter than that!