Sometimes you see a pattern and immediately you know you NEED TO make it. That's what I was like when I first saw this pattern - "Movement in Squares" by Wendy Sheppard. I knew that I HAD to make it!
I purchased some gorgeous green & brown prints back in January during the first "Great Aussie Destash" on Instagram (#GreatAussieDestash) and they cried out to be used for this pattern. I don't have all the selvages, but the ones I found were; "Groove" by Caleb Gray Studio by Robert Kaufman, and "Santorini" by Lila Tueller for Moda. It wasn't a difficult quilt to make, I just needed to make sure that I sewed straight lines and an accurate 1/4" seam - sometimes easier said than done - but the quilt top was put together in no time.
My completed top - June 2014 |
That was back in June. Then it sat. And sat. And sat. Until October came around and I suddenly got the guilts and decided that I wanted to get this quilt finished before the end of 2014.
I'm not keen on plain quilt backs (unless they are hanging on a wall and you can't see them), so I dug out my left over fabrics and tried to get inspired. Thankfully a friend was destashing some fabric so I purchased two pieces of extra fabric which coordinated perfectly with my scraps. When combined they were large enough to create a scrappy back. With fabric in hand and renewed motivation, a scrappy back was whipped together in no time.
Then came the mammoth hand quilting session - the clock was ticking down to the new year, it was WAY TOO HOT to be quilting (summer in Oz), but I was determined to get this baby finished before midnight on the 31st of December 2014.
By the time that I was binding the quilt, I was so delusional from lack of sleep that I imagined jelly dinosaurs attacking my Wonder Clips... but I slogged on...
T-Rex |
Stegosaurus |
Welcome to Jurassic Park! |
I would've made it, but I had pulled so many all nighters that I actually fell asleep late in the afternoon on the 31st and woke up after 7pm. YIKES! I soon realised that I wasn't going to make my self imposed deadline so I gave myself permission to switch over to Perth time (they are currently 3-hours behind the East Coast so I could make up my lost 3 hours); and I managed to finish the hand quilting at 11.10pm Perth time (2:10am local time) with 50 minutes to go. YAY! Thanks Perth! ;0)
Ok well in fairness I am going to call this my "First Finish". So far I have only just done basic quilting on this. I do have intentions to add more detailed stitching into the negative spaces but have not yet worked out what I want to do. Plus it is way too hot. It's our summer. Our temperatures are in the high 30's - mid 40's Celcius (that's averaging over 100 Fahrenheit for you crazy Americans). But I'm happy with what I've done, for now.
Love your hand quilting!
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