Emma's Flower Garden Quilt

 Here's granddaughter Emma's Flower Garden quilt.  I finished the pearls Wednesday, and machine-embroidered the label and sewed it on yesterday.

The quilt measures 101" x 101".  The cross-stitched blocks were found at a secondhand store by my daughter-in-law Amy, Emma's mother.  I designed the quilt in EQ8, adding Triple Irish Chain blocks to the cross-stitched blocks.  The fabric is from Robert Kaufman's 'Softly' line.

The pantograph is 'Lollipop Rose' by Keryn Emmerson, quilted on a hand-guided 18" Handi Quilter Avanté.  I used pale yellow 40-wt. Omni thread on top, and cream 60-wt. Bottom Line in the bobbin.  The batting is Quilters' Dream wool.

Each block has 96 pearls, making a total of 1,728 pearls.  The label was machine-embroidered on my Bernina Artista 730.  The backing is a Riley Blake tie-dye.

The quilt is hanging from my new frame, which was designed for a photography backdrop.  It is not nearly heavy enough for hanging quilts on, and the only way it stayed upright was because, for once, the constant Nebraska wind has died down to a 10-mph 'gentle breeze', as they call it hereabouts.  I had to catch it before it tumbled over three or four times, and took pictures as fast as I could between tips.  If anyone has any suggestions for how to make this thing sturdy, I'd be glad to hear them!  I do want it to be portable, of course.