Guess who finished a quilt?
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| Love the text print border! |
This one was a long time in the making. Well, not a long time to make, but a long time to finish. The piecing went together pretty quickly considering the blocks were English paper pieced.
I started it June 2012 while I was pregnant with my now 5 year old. I cut my own card stock templates with a rotary cutter and ruler and just started hand piecing. My first star was all one color, but then I switched to bi-colored stars. Much better!
I made the blocks up pretty quickly. I tried to stick with a loose polka dot theme for the bright fabrics.
Then I hemmed and hawed over what color to put between them. I initially wanted to use a bright aqua floral, but decided that it was a bit too crazy. So I chose a tone on tone black.
One of my 2013 goals was to finish it. I didn't quite make it. (understatement)
From that point on it keeps popping up on my blog, usually in Work in Progress or Finish Along Goal posts. This is a picture from May 2014 when it showed up as a FAL goal. I was in the process of appliquéing the borders on (if you look carefully, you can see the pins).
I mentioned in that post that it had been sitting for awhile, and it was going to sit a lot longer. I finished appliquéing on the borders in 2015 but I didn't get it basted until Spring 2017. Then it sat around for six months while I debated how to quilt it. I wanted to do something super fancy, perfect, and quilt show worthy, but in the end I opted for just getting it done.
You can see the quilting better on the back. The diamond area is criss crossed with straight line quilting and the borders are covered in swirls. I am planning on adding some bright chunky hand quilting around the blocks, but for now it is finished!
5 1/2 years later. :)
I have been thinking about why I put quilts away and don't work on them and it always has something to do with hitting some sort of snag. Blocks don't fit right, or I can't figure out how to quilt it, or I don't want to baste or bind it. I really don't like basting and binding....
I think I just need to plow on through. The problems usually aren't as big of a deal as I think they are and when I push through, I get a pretty quilt!
And I get to pass something off my Q4 FAL Goals!
Quilt Stats
Started: June 2012
Finished: December 2017
Size: 58" x 76"
Techniques: English paper piecing and applique (100% hand pieced!)
Machine quilted and bound
This. This is SOO beautiful! Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteSpectacular quilt!!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I want to say that your quilt is an inspiration! I love the color combinations and it makes me want to get busy on my own paper piecing project again. And I have to chime in and tell you that I have the same issue with my own UFO's. I have reached the conclusion that something stalls me and I set my project aside, intending it to be temporary while I think about it, and then it becomes a larger obstacle in my mind and I let it sit, and then before you know it, a project I was excited about has been sitting for months or years because of a question I had about a technique or an indecision about two possible choices. My grandmother used to tell my sister, during a period of shyness and timidity, "Do something, even if it's wrong!" (with a wry smile)--now that is what I try to tell myself before I put my quilt away in quilt purgatory.
ReplyDeleteWow, Leila! A finished English paper-pieced quilt is not a typical quilt finish! Congratulations on your perseverance! The quilt is lovely. It surely must feel good to call it done - a real accomplishment. I'm wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas, and also want to say thank you for the lovely Tula Pink fabrics that arrived in Saturday's mail. I really appreciate your generosity for the giveaway win, and for all your work on the Year of Scrappy Triangles blocks. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI must start by saying this is exactly what the FAL was created for, finally finishing those quilts that have been languishing for years, and trust me I have plenty. Congratulations on the fantastic finish and you are right, just plow on through and don't get hung up on little details, I'll do the same this year, finish those quilts! It is wonderful! Thanks for linking up on behalf of the 2017 FAL global hosts. Hope you will join us for 2018!
ReplyDelete