Lofty Quilt - One Just For Me

Not often, but every once in awhile I make a quilt just for me. And from the very beginning, I knew I wanted to keep this quilt. 

I started working on this quilt last fall, after finding some of the fabrics at the Garden of Quilts event.

I took awhile on the fabric selection (more on that in a minute) and then got the top pieced pretty quickly. Then it took a bit for me to get around to quilting it. When I have other quilts with deadlines then my own quilts have to wait in line for their turn on the longarm.

I started with this bundle - I was going for a fall-ish palette but I wanted it a bit brighter than usual. However...as I worked with it, removed fabrics and added others, it ended up closer to a spring bundle than a fall one - ha!

These were my two final options - the top group has greens added in, and the bottom one swapped out the greens for some yellows.

I love both options, but in the end I went with that bottom group of fabrics but swapped out the yellow prints for ones that were a bit more gray and not quite so bright as the ones shown above. 

I do love the final fabric combination. In the photos that darkest rust color pops out a bit, but in person it blends better with the other fabrics.

I get a lot of questions about this Lofty pattern. No special rulers are needed for this pattern - just a straight ruler that you already own is fine, and a rotary cutter of course. 

Lofty is a fat quarter friendly pattern* but I'm often asked if a layer cake pack can be used. Technically you CAN use a layer cake- but there will be some wasted fabric. But if  you have a layer cake that you're dying to use for a Lofty quilt, then you'll need 42 layer cake squares to make a crib sized quilt. For a throw size you'll need two layer cake packs (72 total layer cake squares).

*updated 2023: the Lofty pattern now has more fabric options! You can use fat quarters, fat eighths, Layer Cake squares, or 1/3 yard cuts of yardage. Find the full-color, booklet style pattern here. 

This is maybe my 5th or 6th Lofty quilt that I've made and I'm always surprised at how quick it is to make. With only one seam in each block they sew up quickly!

I used a cream colored minky fabric on the back and at first I was nervous about using such a light color on the backing. But this quilt really is just for me and it's not like I'll be dragging it around across the floor. The reality is that it will most likely stay folded up at the foot of my bed when it's not in use. And to be honest...the quilt shop didn't have another color of minky that went with the front of the quilt as well as this soft cream color. 

And I really do love how the quilting stands out on the backing. You can see it a bit better in this next photo.

For the longarm quilting I used a computerized design called Good Vibrations. I loaded the quilt horizontally so that the quilting would run down the length of the quilt. And to get the wave look in the quilting I offset each row by just a little bit. 

I also kept the space between rows a bit larger than I usually do because I really wanted this quilt to be soft and drapey.

This is the throw size of the Lofty quilt pattern and the quilt finished at 54" x 72". The Lofty pattern also has instructions for a crib size (42" x 54"), a twin size (72" x 90"), and a queen size (90" x 90"). 

You can see a crib size Lofty here, and another throw size version here. 

Find Lofty paper patterns and PDF copies here in my shop

Quilt Details:

54"x 72"

Pattern: Lofty (find it here in my shop)

Fabric: A mix of fat quarters

Quilting: Good Vibrations (edge to edge computerized longarm design)

Pieced on a Juki TL-2010Q using Aurifil Thread (50 wt color 2021)

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