It was a little crazy around here at the end of last week. Just a little.
Apart from preparing to quilt the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild's group quilt, I was also trying to get my aunt's quilt together - ostensibly, I was going to quilt it on Saturday after I'd done the SMQG quilt.
Yeah, after six hours of FMQ on "The Rainbow Connection", I decided I wasn't up for any more quilting!
So I think I'll just send this one on to Jo @ Thirroul Custom Quilting for computerised quilting. She has some lovely patterns and I haven't sent any work her way for a while. Nice as it is to do it myself every now and then (and also when specific designs are required), it's also nice to send it off and just get back lovely quilted quilts!
Anyway, the development process of my aunt's quilt started with a large piece of fabric that my aunt wanted me to "just sew off the edges and I'll spread it on my bed".
I couldn't. I just couldn't.
I thought I'd at least give it a border:
And then I discovered I couldn't do 'just' that either.
So it got cut up into large pieces with sashes and posts, using up some stash while I was at it:
A thin green border, and another harvest fabric as a larger border:
There were issues along the way.
1. the discovery that several of the panels were shorter than expected!
It turned out I'd used two panels that were nearly-but-not-quite the right size as compared to the two that were the right size. Time to bring out Mistah Seam Ripper!
2. And then there was the discovery that my math was ALL BAD.
Three unfinished HSTs (at 4.5") should not equal the width of the finished panel (13.5")! *facepalm*
Which is why, instead of having the HSTs on the front of the quilt, they ended up decorating the back:
Yes, the back is a mess. I pretty much just patched everything leftover from the front into the back, and added some blocks that matched the fabric but which have been laying around for too long without anywhere to go.
During the piecing process, there was trimming while watching early episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender (Nickelodeon show from a few years back that depicts Asiatic/Native American cultures as bog-standard normal: highly recommended in cartoon version - avoid the film like the black plague!)
And having sewn together these broken dish blocks (which got used on the back), I think I have an idea for a quilt design!
The problem of making quilts: one quilt begets another quilt, begets another quilt, begets a dozen other quilts...
Anyway, it's done! I'll package it up and mail it off to Jo with some pattern suggestions on Friday.
In the meantime, I have three other finished quilt tops that need backings put together so I can send them off with Aunty's Harvest Quilt. (I really have to think of nicer names for these things.)
Oh, it's so pretty! Your aunt is sure to melt. :) Don't you love working with different styles sometimes? I'm at a point of over-saturation with modern right now. I feel too constricted by "that crowd" - which is really funny since it arose largely from a movement to get away from being constricted. . . hehe. Still love it - just need some breaths of fresh air, and trips through traditional fabrics like the ones you've done up here are very, very nice. :)
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