There is no greater motivator than a 3 year old girl asking you if her princess quilt is finished yet. This is a little sneak peek. It is turning out to be a really fun quilt. I spent yesterday afternoon sewing together the top, which was a bit hard considering it looked like this outside.

I’m going to head to my LQS today to see if they have the Kona solids I need for the back. If not I will look this weekend. We are going to Cincinnati for a family visit and my mom and I are going to visit The Fabric Shack. I am already forming my shopping list, I’m pretty excited!

It’s finished! I still can’t believe it. I have been working on this quilt for 6 months and boy am I glad to have it completed. So many things to say about this one…

As I mentioned in my sneak peek post (um, a LONG time ago!), this quilt is inspired by a beautiful quilt by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts. Her work is simply amazing.

Oh, SO many lessons learned and things I would have done differently on this one.
1) I made the first 3 blocks forever ago and then waited months to make the rest. I didn’t write down anything – sizes, seam allowance, squaring up size…not smart.
2) I switched sewing machines in the middle of making the blocks. And used different feet. Again, I wouldn’t recommend this! LOL
3) I used charcoal thread in the bobbin and really am not happy with how it looks on the back. Sigh.
4) In my quest to be Rita-like, I tried machine stitching the back of the binding instead of hand sewing it. Let’s just say, I’m no Rita. LOL

This quilt ended up being a 64″ square which I think will be perfect to fit our family for lunches in the park this Spring. The binding is a stripe by Lizzy House Red Letter Day. I know I just used that for a binding, but I had a lot and I like it. Although the sashing looks black, it’s really Kona Charcoal. And the prints are just a rainbow selection of my favorites.

The back is 9 large squares using giant blocks of colors from the front. This part was a bit painful for me as I used up some of my favorite out of print fabrics. But I kept telling myself that I bought the fabric to use, not to hoard. So use it!

I quilted it using free motion and used Warm and Natural batting. I prefer Dream Cotton Request Loft batting and even though it’s more costly, I think I will go back to using that. It’s more lightweight and I feel like it’s just a better quality.

So now I’m moving on to my quilting bee quilt, my Dolce quilt and my Hope Valley quilt. Always more in the pipeline than coming out of it!

On a side note (but more importantly), today my little man is turning 1. Happy Birthday Kyler!

ETA: more gratuitous baby and quilt cuteness.

It’s about time, right? I love this quilt, but it has been hanging over my head for what seems like forever. I think it’s my love of it that is the reason behind the length of time it’s taken me to create it. First I wasn’t sure of the layout. I wanted it to be perfect. Then I wasn’t sure what to do for the backing. Then I wasn’t sure the thread color and quilting design. And already I’m not sure of the binding. Does this ever happen to you?

Well I have quilt a few quilts in progress, so I decided I needed to make a decision and act. Here’s to one step closer to finishing this quilt!

I will save the story behind this quilt for when it is actually finished, but I wanted to share the quilt top because I’m so excited to have finished it last night! I think the bright colors will be what saves me during the long winter ahead. It is, of course, inspired by one of my quilting idols, Rita of Red Pepper Quilts. I hope everyone else in US is staying warm out there!

Off to sew Christmas presents! Nothing like a deadline!