Sunday, March 16, 2014

Story of a Twenty Year Itch

Finally Scratched!!
 Twenty years ago, when our girl was seven and our boy was five,  I took a class at the local community center on quilting....hand piecing to be exact!
A trip to the local Joann (no quilt shops about at that time) and eight calico prints later (yes calico!) I was learning the old school way of tracing templates and pinning corners to help keep my stitches straight.  It was taking forever and I lost interest and time.
About ten years ago I unearthed the unfinished blocks and got to it again.  Got as far as sashing and basting to batting and back.  Since I hand pieced the whole top I figured it deserved to be hand quilted as well.  That stopped me in my tracks and once again it was packed away!
Last year while sorting my stash I uncovered this UFO.  While it has been languishing my confidence in my skills had improved AND I discovered quilting with Perle cotton. Yes!!
Twenty years later it's done. 
 Six foot square with silly cornerstones in the middle. I don't know why I didn't do it in all the corners of the sashing.  Must have wanted the top done!!!
After twenty years I still love the colors if not the calico prints!:)
In other news we had a lovely day last week and the garden needed expanding. After relocating the blackberries and blueberries inside the fence to save them from the deer we needed more space for veggies.  Two big post, leftover wire, two huge holes later an additional 7' x 20' was created.  
 Over the new addition went compost and black plastic.  Hopefully that will speed up the decomposition of the grass and we can till it under in a couple of weeks.  Left the two posts tall to have a place to put birdhouses and garden gewgaws. 
I think lights and a bunting would be great!!
 This morning we are enjoying the sunshine...before the snow that is supposed to come tonight!! Sometimes I think Spring will never come but you know that in several months we will be groaning about the heat!
Right now my newly finished twenty year old quilt is coming in handy!:)
~d

11 comments:

  1. What a great story!! And, you know, I love those calico prints! That last photo is a peach - Slate looks very comfy! *g*

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  2. Yay for finally done! And actually, it doesn't look that horribly dated. Bet all the new fruit and veggies will taste great when they finally appear

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  3. Hooray! Congrats on the long overdue finish. I love the pic on the truck.

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  4. Love the story :) Kudos for the finish!! fun shots of it, too!

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  5. Thanks for sharing this, it makes me feel much less guilty about my 20 year old quilt top that I've been meaning to get to. Less guilty and a little inspired too!

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  6. LOL - yay you for getting that quilt done! And nice to see it is being appreciated too :-)
    You had a nice day! It keeps raining here on the weekends, like an inch or two a day. We're trying to get the permanent roof on the garage.... but during the week it is lovely!

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  7. Beautiful Dee! Those soft colours are really timeless and it would look great in a lounge I know ;-) (just kidding!)

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  8. Wow that quilt is a beauty and certainly and heirloom of the future. Make the most of your weather, you just never know these days what you are going to get tomorrow.

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  9. Great story and great quilt! Love the colours!

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  10. Love the story behind this beautiful quilt and you must be so relieved to have that finally ticked off your list! And so beautifully hand quilted too - what an heirloom!!

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  11. I am so happy you finished it.
    I, too, had and old unfinished quilt that I had made while I was in college (using fabrics from clothing I had made). My quilting friends encouraged me to finish it, since I was moving it from place to place. Thirty years later I did finish it, hand quilting like you.
    Great Photos of your quilt.

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