Friday, September 05, 2014

a long time coming

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This quilt has been a LONG time in the making...over 5 years! And it ended being a baby size. Ha! At one point it had larger borders on it (although I was never completely happy with them) and I had even pieced a backing for it. Needless to say, this is one of those quilts that changed directions many times. It happens! And I'm very happy with how it ended up.
The other day I was showing my husband the quilt top and he suggested that I chop off some of the borders and finish it up as a baby quilt for our friends. It was definitely the right decision! I will use the backing that I pieced before for the front of a different quilt. (More quilting. Hurray!)

The half square triangles finish at 2" and were cut using my GO! baby cutter. My kids even got in on the cutting action. (I love it when they help with that part!) The go baby cuts off the dog ears from the HSTs before you even sew, which makes piecing that many tiny triangles tolerable. It's intense, but I love the look!
I pieced a new backing from my stash (I LOVE it!!!) and started stippling. It wasn't looking good, so after 10 minutes of quilting and 2+ hours of ripping, I decided to quilt it as originally planned with a cross hatch. It turned out much better!
I've had this striped fabric sitting in my stash for years. It almost hurt to cut into it, but I knew it was meant to be...I could NOT have found a better match. I do love a striped binding!
The quilt measures 41" x 53". I'm happy to count it as scrap project #84/101!

(I so badly want to make another version of this quilt using modern fabrics. Wouldn't that be FUN???)

Finishing feels good. Finishing an old WIP feels GREAT!

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday!

64 comments:

Melissa Corry said...

I love the way you quilted this!!! So fun, what a beautiful finish :)

Susanhusan said...

What a wonderful quilt!

Gunilla said...

I just love that quilt!!

CapitolaQuilter said...

Love that you involved your whole family in the new direction this quilt took and it turned out amazing. The quilting is meant to be. Thanks for the linky.

Nanaofck said...

I love this quilt. I have lots of similar fabric in my stash that would work, however I recently finished piecing a large scrap Friendship Star and dont't have the enthusiasm to do all those HST's again. Thank you for your Zig Zag tutorial, I just finished one for my grandson and loved that method.

charlotte said...

I love the look of it. Isn't it funny how a WIP we finish after forever then makes us want to make another like it? Happens all the time. Love the binding. That is one of my all time favorite stripes.

Anonymous said...

love it and the binding fabric is perfect

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful! And I agree, finishing an old WIP is just the best feeling!

Carla said...

Good on you for finishing! I too have old projects that I'm thinking I will just make smaller to be done with them ; )
Thanks for the inspiration

Michelle said...

It turned out perfect! It is beautiful. Sometimes we start things in life and quilting to be one thing and they turn out to be something totally different than we planned but the out come is even better than we envisioned. ;)

Anonymous said...

I finished up a LONG in progress project too. Also, my daughter LOVES using the die cutter. She is the master of making little triangles for me to sew.

Serena @ Sewgiving said...

Love the way you said "he suggested that I chop off some of the borders and finish it up as a baby quilt for our friends" ... men are such Mr Fix-its aren't they? It's lovely finish and it must feel so good to see it go to a good home after 5 years :)

Anonymous said...

This is awesome. The binding is probably my favorite part.

Geta Grama said...

I admire your determination to finish old things! Beautiful!

Clair said...

It does look good. A bit different than your normal fabric choices, but I think the recipients are going to love it.

Britt-Inger said...

Your quilt is wonderful, bright and bold. A good idea to skip the borders I think.

Anina said...

It's lovely! Striped fabric is my favorite for binding and yours is perfect.

SuperMomNoCape said...

I love the heirloom/vintage feel to this quilt. I'm sure it will be much loved and used by the baby that receives it!

Henry's Shed said...

What a gorgeous quilt! I love the combination of tiny triangles and big stars! And cutting into that binding fabric was totally the right choice - it looks brilliant! xx

JanineMarie said...

I love the striped binding--it sets the rest of the quilt off beautifully.

eva said...

Marvelous!!!
i look forward to seeing a new version of this quilt pattern.
hm.... an idea for the plaid shirts i have to work with....one of these days....
love it!!
xo
eva

RugratRodeos said...

This is completely awesome!

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts said...

Everything about this quilt is perfect! The layout, the quilting, the binding. It's a gorgeous quilt.

Linda said...

Lovely as always, my friend!

Linda said...

Lovely as always, my friend!

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Cool! Very traditional looking, and I LOVE the stripey binding :D

Daytona Damsel said...


I absolutely love this quilt. I think it looks so snuggly.
Debbie

FlourishingPalms said...

Yay for you, Amanda! HSTs are always a winner in my book, though the actual piecing of them is mostly a pain in the tush. Glad you persevered to see a finish. A UFO finish is absolutely THE best!

Kimberley said...

I love it! Just beautiful. Glad I'm not the only one who changes directions a bit. Great job!

Lauren Deel said...

I love it! Those little HSTs are so wonderful, and I think the grid quilting is the perfect complement to the quilt top.

Live a Colorful Life said...

In my opinion, you can never go wrong with cross hatch quilting (although that might possibly be because I can only do straight-line quilting....)

Lucy | Charm About You said...

I really like the traditional look this has! The cross stitching looks perfect, I find that hard to do without getting puckers!

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

What a great quilt, and your quilting is perfect! I like stripes for the bindings, too.

Jana Machado said...

Good for you finishing a quilt that was 5 years waiting! Certainly a good feeling! This quilt definitely has a country feeling that just catch my eyes.

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Love this one, Amanda, it has a vintage-country-timeless kinda thing going on that is really neat. And YES !~! To the striped binding. You hit the mark there.

MaryBeth said...

Love, love, LOVE your quilt!!!!

Angie in SoCal said...

Oh! I like it without the borders. Beautifully quilted, too.

Di~ said...

Why oh Why do I love EVERYthing you do?

Unknown said...

Oh, it's beautiful. And that binding is perfect. #84 is gorgeous!

Georgi said...

Love your quilt and all those little HSTs ~ the cross-hatch quilting was Definitely the right decision! Congrats on the finish. :)

RugratRodeos said...

Amanda Jean, one of your readers just left a nasty comment on my blog accusing me of spam because my finish wasnt a quilt. I join you every week- I'm going through a particularly difficult time & now one of your followers has made me cry :0(

ES said...

I like this quilt! someone is very lucky to be given this as a gift! The binding is especially lovely, stripes really work out great!!

Nana said...

Regardless of the length of time it took to complete.....the results were perfect. A wonderful gift!

Unknown said...

Great choice with the crosshatching. That's a beautiful quilt!

MaterialGirlQuilts said...

The cross-hatch quilting is absolutely perfect! I agree, finishing an old WIP is a wonderful feeling, congrats!

Jocelyn said...

Absolutely love this quilt! Great job!

Unknown said...

I think this is much better as a baby quilt. I've got a king size that I'm struggling with and I'm now wondering if I should just chop it up and have done with it!

Karen said...

This quilt is stunning, I love the quilt. The quilting is perfect for this quilt.

Heather Graves said...

What a great quilt! In love with the striped binding

Lorna McMahon said...

The cross hatch quilting and stripy binding were the perfect finishing touches. Love the scrappy feel of this quilt!

Nancy said...

Amanda, this Quilt turned out Beautiful!! Love the Pattern! I bet you are delighted this WIP is done, done, done!!
Huggs, Nancy

u keep sewing said...

Love everything about this quilt. You are truly an inspiration. Thanks.

Kristine said...

I love it! It has even inspired me to do some triangles...maybe!

margaret said...

good one this, a lovely baby quilt

nanajsews said...

I love this quilt! Can we get the pattern?

tisha @ quiltytherapy said...

This would be a great scrap quilt too. Can't wait to see your modern version.

Kat said...

My finish this week was an old WIP too. Yours is so pretty and scrappy!

Suzanne said...

Kevin was right. Tell him Suzanne said so. ;)

Lisa H. said...

That binding is "da bomb!"

Judy said...

This quilt is Beautiful! What an amazing job you did!

Sherry said...

Congrats on an awesome finish! Wonderful quilt and your inspiration is much appreciated.

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

This is good inspiration for all of us with less than perfect wips sitting around. It turned out great!

Roxanne said...

Classic and classy baby quilt! It would be great in any fabric but this one has timeless appeal. Great finish!

bodilshobby.blogg.no said...

A lovely quilt!