My April Finish

It's official, I need to start using the calendar in my sewing room.  I went thru the piles and discovered I have over 12 UFO projects, and some of them definitely need to be finished.  Like the two that were supposed to be my sister's Christmas present...

 

I do have a finish to share however!  I had hoped to enter it in the 2015 Pantone Quilt Challenge but missed the deadline.  Thus, need to use that calendar!

 

Remember the quilt my grandma asked me to finish for my cousin Kendra?  Well I made it happen, and in two weeks!  Kendra turned 13 at the end of March, and my mom asked me if I might be able to finish by Easter Sunday as my aunt would be able to take it to her.

I wooshed through those 25 patch blocks.

 

 

When I had enough to make the quilt a size I knew I could fit in my machine, there were plenty of leftover 2.5 inch squares so I started using them as leaders and enders and have decided I will assemble a 4-patch for Kendra's sister Haley.  Eventually.  :)

 

I enjoy progress pictures, it's fun to step back and see how much I've done and how good it looks.  I was concerned initially when putting the 2.5 inch squares together that the larger blocks wouldn't be the same size, but it worked out fine.  I had the concern because some of the little squares are actually rectangles...

 

Belle helped by keeping my ironing board in one place for me.

 

Top assembled!

 

I also made a pillowcase to match, which doubles as a protective carrying case.

 

Thomas decided to help with the quilting by holding the quilt still for me (he's about 13 pounds by now, what a fatty!)

 

John was nice enough to let me take over the living room for a week so I could quilt with space.  I would really like to get a table that my machine sets into, that will really help with future quilts.

 

Belle is inspecting my quilting motif.

 

I went with an all over flower and leaf pattern, all free motion quilting, and no set repeat.  I pretty much stayed in the rows but if the pattern overlapped into the next one I went with it, which I feel lent itself to an overall feeling.

 

On the last row I decided I needed to add in an extra something special.

 

This is only half the quilt, I really didn't want to drag it in the dirt. :)

I don't know that I can express how very glad I was to finish this quilt, and I look forward to hearing how Kendra likes it.  I love the texture it gained after I washed it, and with two layers of batting it is very cozy.

 

John got this marvelous photo of me, great job honey!

 

 

Lessons learned:

-Spray basting works best on smaller pieces.  I ended up with a number of places on the back that folded over itself as I was quilting which drives me nuts, but the wrinkles helped a lot in hiding them after I washed it

-Basting would be a lot easier and more successful if I had one huge table and another couple hundred basting pins

 

 

And for future reference, this quilt finished at 70" by 90" and probably had ~80 hours put into it.

 

Have a wonderful day, thank you for stopping by!

~Brandy