Saturday, January 11, 2020

The evolution of a Quilt



In the beginning...

I had the idea for this quilt from one I had seen. I think Edyta Sitar had made a smaller version perhaps? And because I always like to go big, I thought it would make the perfect autumn quilt for my king size bed.


How hard could that be? I would just keep cutting and sewing rectangles until it was big enough. That was my plan anyway. It got to be wide enough, at about 110". And I kept adding rows to the top and bottom but it never grew more than about 65 " tall.

It became a UFO...

Eventually I got bored with it. The fabrics started to look stale to me and I just wasn't feeling it anymore. So it went in a bin. Where did all the extra rectangles go? I have no idea. The bin got put in the closet and there it sat. For several years, or more.


A new direction...

And cleaning out the closet is one of my goal for this year so I grabbed a bin that had some UFOs in it. And I found this top! I knew it would never be the king size quilt I had hoped it would be, but I realized that if I turned it sideways, it was already large enough to be a twin size quilt! It was too large actually.

All I needed to do was trim the top and bottom 12" off and my twin size quilt top would be complete. So I did. I then had two large pieced units leftover, so I used them on the backing. I also used some leftover yardage from other projects to the back as well. One of those fabrics is so old it's almost vintage!


Finally Finished...

Then all I had to do was put it on the longarm (with a pieced batting!) and I quilted it using a fun new design called "Slipstream". I also had the binding fabric in the stash. So I finished this quilt in 2 days without purchasing anything new.


I now have one less UFO (unfinished object) and one more quilt ready for donation! Maybe it's time to start re-thinking more of the UFO's that I have and give up on the original plan. It feels so good to have a finish, even if it's not what I originally intended it to be.

I just hope that whomever ends up with this quilt knows that it was stitched with love.

Enjoy every stitch!
Diane

12 comments:

  1. It is beautiful! It doesn't look dated to me! I have been working on my UFOs too, and for the current one, I don't even remember the original plan, so I guess whatever I do to it will work.

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  2. I love creative problem solving. It always tickles my fancy when I can resolve something like this....it really gives me quite a sense of satisfaction. Congratulations

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  3. I love it! Good for you that you finished it!

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  4. I think this quilt is glorious! It definitely speaks of autumn. And I also love the slipstream quilting - I’ll remember that for the next time I do a big quilt. Way to knock out a UFO!

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  5. I agree with Shasta - I love the quilt's warm, red center (oh, that sounds like a menu description of a medium-rare steak!). Anyway, congrats on finishing up a UFO! I agree, sometimes you have to change course to get the quilt where it wants to be!

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  6. This is gorgeous! I just love it! What a satisfying way to use older fabric mixed with current ones....it always feels good to finally stick those older fabrics in a quilt. I particularly like the red/black contrast going on in the middle.

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  7. Great work, Diane! Your solution was brilliant and used all that you had created! It’s not dated, it’s a scrap quilt, very pretty, and finished a UFO! Love it!

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  8. It is truly gorgeous and always a bonus to have one less UFO.

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  9. I really like the idea of this quilt! I have lots of dated scraps which would be ideal! I dont understand why it was hard to make longer, or were you just over it? I wish ( not really) you would stop putting all these great ideas on your blog, cause I want to make them all!! Lol!

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  10. Gorgeous! A winner, for sure. Great way to start 2020.

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  11. I really like this quilt. I like the colors and the design. If you want to get rid of it, you can give it to me:-)

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