Eight Years Later...A Finish

Well, this quilt certainly has a story to go with it. I started it about 8 years ago, when I had a denim couch. I have always been a blue jeans girl, and I loved this denim couch. It was great for having with kids and grand kids. The covers all came off and went into the wash, going back tight and great fitting as jeans do. So I wanted to make a quilt that matched it as soon as I found the perfect fabric at my LQS.

 They are all batiks, which I don't use much even though there are so many beautiful ones out there. I pieced it fairly quickly, but got hung up on the quilting. I started out hand quilting it. I used to do a lot of my quilts that way. But it is slow. And it went to the back of the line.

 This is the part that got machine quilted a few weeks ago just so I could get this thing done.

 There were a few centers that were hand quilted like this, but I couldn't find the stencil I used back when I started. So I made a choice to go in another direction.

 All the small squares are hand quilted and the stitches are of varying lengths. My abilities have changed some over the years.

 The back I love. It is an older Heather Baily print that I bought because the colors matched the front pretty well. The outside borders are a dark blue marbled fabric.

 I love that it is done. The colors are just so delicious. I still love them after all this time.

 This quilt would have looked great on that denim couch. But alas, the couch is no more. One of the kids took it and has since gotten rid of it. I love my new couch, but I will never forget the old denim couch.

                        This quilt will always remind me.

And one more small miracle, while wondering what to bind it with, and searching for something else at the time, I found about a yard of the coral batik. Perfect. Just perfect.

And it looks pretty good on the new couch too. Another happy ending for one of my quilts. Talk to you soon.

An Oldie, But a Goodie for WIP Wednesday

Have you ever bought a quilting book, just because of the picture on the front of the book? I used to belong to a craft book club and I bought several books that way, because when they sent you the catalog each month, there was always a book or two that looked really cool.  This is the story of one such book.

 I bought this book in 2008. Those petals on the cover, as well as the colors really drew me in. I am sure there was a little blurb about the book too, that intrigued me. And when I received it, it did not disappoint. Most of the samples in the book were made with batiks, however, and while I like batiks, they are not really very present in my stash.

 This was the quilt on the cover of the book that intrigued me so. I loved the pinks and the oranges, and the shapes of the petals really makes me smile.

 Then, further back in the book there is this one, called Stella Blue and that was the one that convinced me I had to make this quilt. The process is sewing strips together and then cutting out the blocks, or in this case, the petals. Now, what you need to know about this, and me, is that this was before I discovered the modern quilt movement and quilt blogs. I didn't find all that until about 2 years later. So I was trying to follow this pattern and I couldn't seem to get around the backing fabrics. I thought I would just cross that bridge when I got there. But I never did get there. I found all my petals and the book and extra fabrics tucked away the other day, still not a backing fabric in sight. I decided to pull it out and see what I had so far.

 I have almost 40 of the petals made, in my two favorite colors: yellow and blue. There are a couple of batiks in there, but lots of tone on tone prints and I know I still have a few of these left to make more petals.

 I love the pretty yellow print with the few tiny blue flowers in it. It seems to tie the whole thing together. So, I am going to grab the rest of my fabrics and make just a few more petals.

I am much better at taking a concept and making it my own for a quilt now, than I was back in 2008. I will figure out a lay out and find a backing fabric for these beautiful petals and this quilt will become a finished project finally. The applique process is just machine blanket stitch and since I have my Bernina, which I didn't have back then, It will be a snap. Look at those lovely blues!

I know I have a lot of other quilting projects going on right now, but I am very excited and re-energized to give this quilt the finish it deserves. Do you have any quilts in progress like this? Maybe it's time to dust them off, and give them a second look. You might be sitting on a real treasure.
Happy Wednesday. Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.