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Thursday, August 21, 2008

A Thrifty Quilt


At long last I have finished my quilt. Well, actually it is not entirely my quilt. A few years ago in an op shop I found 6 pieced quilt blocks. Just sitting there. $1 each.


I had just been planning a red and yellow theme for our study (mostly timber and neutrals but a few red and yellow accents, to go with the curtains, and there it was - a pile of red and yellow and calico quilt blocks.



So I took them home, and last winter bought some extra yellow, floral and striped fabric for the sashes and joined them together. I couldn't find an exact match for the deep red but wanted to use a brighter red anyway, and I loved this fabric with the roses. The joining was a feat in itself, it turned out that each block was a slightly different size - eek!



I started quilting, and then in fits and bursts have worked on it ... the rest of the time it has sat on a chair in our living room.


I love the way whoever pieced these blocks matched the pattern so carefully when she cut the pieces.


The matching and the precise hand-piecing is way beyond me, generally I'm a straight lines kind of girl when it comes to patchwork. I am so not a perfectionist when it comes to quilting. (as you can see if you look closely!)


It was fun to quilt each block in a different way, I hand-quilted them all except later I added machine stippling around the Dresden plate block.

And last night, I finished it! I sat and watched Pride & Prejudice (well, listened while I stitched, really) and sewed on the binding, and now it is done!


Now I just have to tidy the study - again! And re-upholster the council-cleanup armchair find to coordinate with my decorating scheme. Always another project to do :-)

1 comment:

Hill upon Hill said...

Oh Fiona that is absolutely beautiful. Well done. It ties in so many good things: a good initial find, working with your hands and then completion. It is so lovely. Maybe, maybe, you could help me with mine when my quilting friend returns to the U.S.A.??