Pueblo Mesa Quilt

We just got home yesterday after spending a week in Seattle visiting my sister and her family — including my new niece Avery who was born in April! Of course I had to make her a quilt, right?

This is the Pueblo Mesa quilt pattern by Katie Larson. I actually bought this pattern originally because I wanted to make one of the mountain-themed quilts but it ended up being the third pattern in that bundle that caught my eye for Avery’s quilt. I made this in the 10 days I had between getting back from Belize and heading to Seattle so the fact that the pattern is relatively simple but still carries a lot of visual impact was perfect.

The pattern called for fat quarters and half yards, and I was able to pull every single fabric out of my stash — even the backing! This is pretty unusual for me and I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to sew entirely from my stash for anything bigger than a mini quilt because I don’t usually have anything bigger than a half yard and therefore I usually end up ordering yardage for a backing or binding. But not this time! The print that started things off is the blue and purple triangles print by Lizzy House. I had about a yard of it that I bought a few years ago. I adore this print but had never been able to decide how to use it, and it seemed fitting to work one of my favorite fabrics into something for my niece. From there, I pulled another Lizzy House blender, several cuts of Alison Glass, some large scraps of Tula Pink, and a couple others in shades of blue and purple. I absolutely LOOOOVE how they all work together.

I was able to use the same fabrics to make a pieced backing that under other circumstances could probably have worked equally well as the quilt top! Funny how that happens sometimes. I took the pattern suggestion of quilting a large echoing X shape with the lines about 2 inches apart. I did have to pull in one additional Alison Glass print for the binding — and I also have to brag because this quilt features literally the best machine binding I have ever done in my 6 years of quilting!!! For my own future reference, here’s what I did: cut 2 1/4″ strips, sew them to the front using just a hair over a 1/4″ seam allowance, press on the front, fold over and press on the back, glue baste it down making sure to juuust cover the stitching line from the front, and then stitch in the ditch from the front of the quilt juuust catching the binding on the back. (If you wanted to make absolutely sure to catch the back, you can also edge stitch on the front instead of stitch in the ditch. I have done this before as well.)

This is one of my favorite quilts I’ve ever made, and I hope Avery loves it for years to come!