Finally Finished

Its been said that a child's self-image is formed by their image reflected back at them through people in their lives. That means they get the full range of images. This child will turn 18 in June, a child no more. I know I only hold up one mirror for her, and smile whenever I see her. I hope this quilt is also a reflection of her beauty.

And yes, Baylee's GARDEN PATHS quilt for her graduation is finally finished. I've been working on it for months and it was a complex pattern, and took me awhile to do the hand quilting on it. I am most pleased with it. The quilt fits across the top of my queen size bed and is meant to be a personal lap quilt or additional cover, not so much a bedspread.

Wish the hand quilting showed up, however the thread I used blends in. I had a copper heart-shaped cookie cutter to make hearts, so four of them in the larger lavender blocks in the center, then also on the edges going onto the first border. I did a single stitch down the middle of the second border which is a batik fabric and then added more hearts spaced in between those first border sections.  It has matching prairie points around the edge and the back is turned under to make the binding work. For security reasons, there is a final serpentine stitch at the very edge.

The back is also a work of art. If you click on the pic, it should enlarge to show the baskets and vases, as well as some of the prairie points at the top and bottom (they run all the way around). This was two pieces of fabric that were joined down the middle with a center seam. Matching repeats only lost a few inches at the top of one piece and an inch after the selvages were cut off. Looking at the pic, I cannot see the line. It is a stunning piece of fabric, and does make the quilt reversible. I am going to use one of the prairie points to write my label information. At first, I was hesitant to use such a dark fabric on the back of that lighter lavender, however, it is striking in person and I am glad for it.

The other thing I finished this morning is the April block my local quilting friend and I are making. Both of us struggled with this one because the instructions were unclear. I learned not to use a striped fabric for such smaller projects and am glad to have this one completed.

I did finish all 20 of the blocks on this jungle comfort quilt and have them laid out. Its pretty wild, but that is what jungles are supposed to be, right? I had hoped to finish it for Le Challenge. The theme this month is BRIGHT and ends on the 15th. Unfortunately, I don't return to the comfort quilt meeting to get the batting and back until the 21st, so I may not enter anything this time.