Finishing Projects

Last night I took the last stitches in the binding of the T-shirt quilt I am making for a friend.  The quilt is pictured in my post titled "Quilt Bindings" below.  It's always a great feeling of accomplishment to finish an entire quilt.  So now I'm ready to get back to an applique project that I really want to finish this year.

I fell in love with Verna Mosquera's Vintage Valentine quilt in the Summer of 2004 . . . yes, I just said 2004!  When I first started this quilt, I purchased fabrics that were similar to Verna's but also wanted to add a little black.  As I started stitching the blocks, I wasn't liking it as much as I thought I would.  Prior to coming to this realization I had already completed 5 blocks!!  These will now become a wallhanging or pillows.  In the Winter of 2008, I saw another version of Verna's quilt at Shabby Fabrics and really liked their color choices as well as the way they handled the white flowers ~ using wool felt with a blanket stitch in dusty rose silk instead of just fabric.  To me, this gives the quilt more dimension.  My husband, Tom, was nice enough to get the entire fabric kit for me for Christmas that year and I started making my blocks.

My Block 1

I now have almost 9 blocks complete and presently finishing up block 12.  This will leave me with only 2 blocks and the medallion to finish.  My eyes have already started wandering to other projects as I expressed below in my "Changing Directions" post, and I am trying very hard to stay focused and finish my Vintage Valentine quilt. 

My Block 3

Here are 3 of my blocks showing the different backgrounds that I am using. 



My Block 11

The other neat thing that Shabby Fabrics had going on in 2008 was an embellishment kit to go along with the fabric.  In the embellishment kit were fabric covered buttons for the middle of each flower, pearls to add to some of the flower's leaves as well as beads to use for the bird's eyes.  Once again, this gives the quilt more dimension and in my opinion makes it a little more special.


On January 24th, I am having hip surgery and afterwards will have a good 6 weeks of downtown so I am hoping that I can use this time to finish up the other 2 blocks and medallion.  Remember, I do have quilters ADD so staying focused on this will be a huge accomplishment for me because there's a little voice in my brain that keeps repeating  . . . "You know you really want to start a Kim McLean pattern."

Stay tuned . . .