My Friday finish has not only been a long time in the making, but has also involved several lovely quilters in the process, the (virtual) Neighbourhood quilt.
The blocks all came my way as part of the Star of Africa Bee and have been joined up since November patiently waiting for me to knuckle down and get them basted and quilted. I have to admit that basting is absolutely my least favourite part of making a quilt, so I always put it off!
Being the arch procrastinator that I am, I should really have been basting the Up, up and Away quilt that I have said that I will finish as part of my 100 Day Challenge but, as you can see I put that off by quilting this instead. There is a logic there somewhere :)
I flexed my (underused!) FMQ muscles and quilted a crazy paving-like pattern in the solid sashing and then a meandering leaf in the tree borders. I did not want to detract at all from the blocks so have simply echo quilted around the block borders, time will tell whether that was a wise decision or not.
The backing fabric is a vintage find by Karen and I had just enough to back the quilt. I used a toning thread in the bobbin for the quilting on the back. Although I am pleased with the look of the quilting on the back, it did mean that where I have hesitated (!) in quilting the meandering leaf with the white thread you can sometimes see a tiny dot of the darker bobbin thread. The answer to that is probably not to hesitate but then I run the risk of passing out through lack of oxygen :)
Thanks Benta, Irene, Janine, Jen, May, Nicky, Patti and Veena I couldn't have done this without you!
That's my Friday finish now it is your turn to show and tell :)
Check out the other linkers too, a little bit of applause is always welcome and add the TGIFF link/button (on the sidebar) to your post and spread the celebrations!
Oh well done Fiona! It looks great! I love mine, it's in daily use!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely quilt Fiona. Such interesting blocks, and I love the houses on the border and the border fabric which works great.
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Kate
Well that is just adorable! The blocks are so sweet, the border and backing fabrics are perfect (as are the corner blocks) - and the quilting looks great too :) Congrats on a darling finish!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to see this quilt finished, I feel like I've known it in development for years so I went back through your blog to see how it had progressed. At first I was surprised to see posts about it last summer as I thought it was from longer ago but as I went back I was relieved to see posts going back over years and I'm thankful I'm not going crazy ;D. At the end of all that the point is this is a great quilt finish and probably has many memories built into it for you along the way; go you and your TGIFF, thanks for hosting too :D
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cute quilt! I love those little houses in the corners. Adorable! Congrats on the finish.
ReplyDeleteA finish is a finish : ) Clapping for you!!! Totally understand your logic. The houses make me smile. Janita
ReplyDeleteBeautiful finish! And your FMQ is lovely! Thank you for hosting TGIFF this week.
ReplyDeletethis looks so good and the quilting has added it to new heights great job
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful whimsical quilt. The border fabric sets it off so nicely. You flexed your fmq muscles well. Thanks for hosting TGIFF.
ReplyDeleteYour finished quilt is just beautiful! It is fun to see each cute block!
ReplyDeleteSusie
I love all those little houses!! Fabulous finish!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your finish. It looks great.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun quilt! I like the cornerstone houses!
ReplyDeleteHouse quilts are always a favorite of mine. And they are extra special when so many hands helped make it!
ReplyDeleteYour house quilt is just too cute! I love that you have a big variety of houses and buildings. I'm sure it takes much longer to put one together but it's so very interesting. Really, great finish!
ReplyDeleteI love this house quilt! It's very cute and I like that you minimized quilting around the houses to show them off.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great quilt! You made me laugh with your "then I might pass out" comment about not hesitating in FMQ, LOL! Great job from what I see!
ReplyDeleteBasting is my absolute least favourite part of quilt making, too. A beautiful finish, Fiona!!!
ReplyDeleteYour quilt is quite adorable; I would love to make a house quilt. Loved that you shared how you thought through the quilting process. Enjoy your finish!
ReplyDeleteI like your neighborhood. I love to see house blocks and other buildings. I enjoy making house blocks. Thanks for sharing your neighborhood. It is an inspiration to me.
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