The first quilt completed in 2013 ends up being the last post of 2013…
This is not going to be a reflective post about all the sewing I’ve done this past year. Rather, it’s more of a “I made this quilt in 2013, didn’t have time to write about it during the holiday season and I can’t bear to start 2014 with a leftover 2013 post”. Sad, but true.
Gotta start by saying that this was a VERY fun quilt to make! I was on a particular schedule to get my usual BOM’s done this year, as well as complete the Tula Pink City Sampler QAL quilt long before Christmas time. However, the ever fabulous Molli Sparkles tempted me sorely to join his Molli Sparkles Broken Herringbone Quilt Along. And I did. I threw everything aside and that ended up blowing the Tula Pink City Sampler schedule to bits. As in, I am so far behind I won’t finish the quilt as the same time as every one else. Not even close. (They’re all on blocks 96 or so. I’m at 56. Uh…yeah.)
And you know what? It was so worth it. I’ll get the Tula Pink quilt done, and because I didn’t get it finished in time to be a Christmas gift I’ll be keeping it. So… BONUS! As far as the Broken Herringbone Quilt…. LOVE.
This looked like it would be a complicated quilt. After I did two blocks I had the pattern down pat. I started the quilt off with making a rainbow of quilt blocks. I had all the ROYGBIV colors in there. Since the quilt was for Mister, I asked him to help me lay out the finished blocks to his liking. After we found a decent layout he said, “You know, the green and yellow just aren’t working for me.” (Tim Gunn much?!) Then it was decided to throw out the orange and red blocks too.
So I was back at the sewing table creating more of the blocks Mister did like. At that point I realized I should probably throw out the red and pink blocks and just stick with the jewel-toned colors that were left. I replaced 9 of the 16 blocks. Despite the fact that I sewed half of the blocks all over again, I agree that Mister made a great decision to just stick with jewel colors.
The quilting on this was a simple stitch-in-the-ditch around all of the white lines. Which is actually NOT as simple as it looks with this pattern. Took me four days to finish, and boy was I ever so happy to be done with quilting this quilt.
And that’s my last post for 2013! I feel better about being “caught up” now. I hope you all had a wonderful 2013, and that your 2014 is amazing!
Stitch ALL The Things 
I love your quilt. The design and colours are so beautiful. Beautiful fabrics too. 🙂
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Thank you so much! I’m really glad that it wasn’t a quilt I gave away to someone outside of the home, because I sneak it away from the Mister and use it all the time! LOL
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The quilt turned out lovely. Smart to let him have a say in the colour department.
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Thank you! He does help me make better decisions in my quilting endeavours! 🙂
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I had a similar experience with my boyfriend today as we discussed the layout of a quilt I’m making. I told him that what I first thought was a more or less random layout was not as random as it appears on first sight. He then started to analyse the layout and pointed out additional patterns that I hadn’t even yet noticed myself. I’m now considering whether I should change the layout based on his observations. It would involve a small amount of unpicking but I’m thinking that I probably should do this because it would most likely improve the look and feel of the quilt.
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It is interesting the feedback given from a person who has not spent as much time with the work as we have. They see things differently than we do, and I think that objective point of view is very valuable. I feel for you on the unpicking, but I do understand that it is worth it when it makes your great work even better!
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I bit the bullet, unpicked what needed unpicking and rearranged everything. The most difficult part was admitting to my boyfriend that he had a point design-wise and that more order is actually a good thing in this quilt…
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Oh, I totally understand that feeling! LOL
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I love the colors in this–stunning.
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Thank you!
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It looks amazing!!! 🙂 great finish 🙂
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Thank you so much! 😀
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