I finished this quilt days ago, but wanted to wait to post pictures until after the recipient received it in the mail. They received it last Friday.
I did not have enough of a single fabric for the back so I added a little interest to the back since it needed to be pieced anyway. I also included a sleeve for hanging.
Here are the blocks, in no particular order.
I quilted it simply because the applique should be the focus, not the quilting. The finished size of the quilt is about 48" by 48".
The name of the pattern is Yuletide Joy. The pattern is by Susan H. Garman and was a block of the month from 1998. I was asked to finish the quilt by a friend. Her sister purchased all the fabric kits and block patterns, probably in 1998. She did the first four blocks and then quit. I completed the remaining 8 blocks using hand applique and machine piecing and finished the quilt for my friend.
This project was quite the learning experience for me. I learned that hand applique is extremely time consuming, at least for me. Each block took me an average of 8 hours of work to complete. I also gained valuable hand applique experience. In particular I learned that good quality fabric is much easier to hand applique than lesser quality fabric. This was also the first applique quilt I quilted. Trying to quilt it evenly was a challenge.
Despite the fabrics not being my style, I do like the finished quilt. It is not a pattern I would have chosen to do, but it is an adorable finished quilt. I particularly like how the blocks are set together. They are not laid out in a strict grid pattern and the pieced stars, squares and half square triangles are used to fill in the spaces in between the applique. There is just enough piecing in between the applique to set off the applique without overwhelming it. Even more of a surprise was the fact that everything went together very easily despite being made by two people over 16 years!
It was hard to send it off to its forever home after spending so much time with it. Knowing it will be well loved and looked after is a comfort.
I did not have enough of a single fabric for the back so I added a little interest to the back since it needed to be pieced anyway. I also included a sleeve for hanging.
Here are the blocks, in no particular order.
I quilted it simply because the applique should be the focus, not the quilting. The finished size of the quilt is about 48" by 48".
The name of the pattern is Yuletide Joy. The pattern is by Susan H. Garman and was a block of the month from 1998. I was asked to finish the quilt by a friend. Her sister purchased all the fabric kits and block patterns, probably in 1998. She did the first four blocks and then quit. I completed the remaining 8 blocks using hand applique and machine piecing and finished the quilt for my friend.
This project was quite the learning experience for me. I learned that hand applique is extremely time consuming, at least for me. Each block took me an average of 8 hours of work to complete. I also gained valuable hand applique experience. In particular I learned that good quality fabric is much easier to hand applique than lesser quality fabric. This was also the first applique quilt I quilted. Trying to quilt it evenly was a challenge.
Despite the fabrics not being my style, I do like the finished quilt. It is not a pattern I would have chosen to do, but it is an adorable finished quilt. I particularly like how the blocks are set together. They are not laid out in a strict grid pattern and the pieced stars, squares and half square triangles are used to fill in the spaces in between the applique. There is just enough piecing in between the applique to set off the applique without overwhelming it. Even more of a surprise was the fact that everything went together very easily despite being made by two people over 16 years!
It was hard to send it off to its forever home after spending so much time with it. Knowing it will be well loved and looked after is a comfort.
4 comments:
i love that quilt!
The quilt is really cute. You must be a very good friend to have taken on this project when hand applique isn't something you love to do.
The quilt looks magnificent! You must be very proud of the way it has turned out.
That is an incredible amount of work. I don't think I could have said yes to that, because the forever owner would have to wait years to get it. LOL.
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