Penny Sampler is Finished!

I finished my Penny Sampler quilt last week. I finished the binding on Wednesday and washed it and photographed it on Thursday, hoping to post it on Friday to link up with Amanda Jean, but instead, I went to Torrey Pines to watch the golf tournament with my husband, so today will have to do. I can link up later in the week to get it more "out there".

First, a full front picture. This is the whole thing. I love the way it turned out, very bright, which is totally my style. I loved this whole project. It was the first of its kind that I had taken on. The size is a twin bed size, but I don't have one to put it on, so I will just find other ways to stare at it and enjoy it. Now for some close ups of some of the components.

 I quilted most of it with Pearl cotton number 12. I used a lot of different colors and tried to let each block lead me in how to quilt it.

 But I also stitched in the ditch on my machine in between some of the large sections to help anchor it before I began the hand quilting. This was a great idea and it made for a very stable quilt top for hand quilting.

 The hand quilting added such great texture and interest to the piece. I don't know how I would have quilted it on a machine. There were just so many components to this quilt.

 This is one of my favorite sections. It is all paper pieced, which is a technique I took the class to learn. I am so happy that I did. Not that I am now a big fan of paper piecing, but I can do it!

 Here it is stretched out on my queen size bed so you can see how big it truly is. So much loveliness.

 These loops down this one piece are the only other machine quilting on here. I felt that this was the best solution for this section since it is one whole piece of fabric, even though it mimics a pieced section.

 I had picked out all the fabrics in the beginning and kept them in a box, as recommended. The one thing I knew I wanted to do for sure since the very beginning was this bright green section with the blue and white fabric diamonds. I am sooooo happy with it. It worked out just as I imagined.

The quilting of diamonds to mimic the hanging diamonds is another favorite element for me. I tried to balance the needs of the sections with enough quilting to keep everything stabilized.

 This little area is another that just spoke to me about the way it needed quilting. I love the texture here since it has been washed and dried.

                   Here is the entire front once again.

And the back. I have been trying to find a way to use these fabrics up since I bought them. The Jeni Baker Nordika is one I love, and I had originally thought to make curtains of it, but that never worked out. So happy it found a home at last. Have a great week and I will talk to you soon.