a nice surprise...

I got a big surprise last week.....

As many of you know, I've been slowly going through my stash of fabrics and quilts, trying to find extra space in my overflowing studio, and in doing so, I came across a few quilts that I had pieced together but never layered and quilted for one reason or another.  One of them was an exchange quilt that I had stuffed away because I wasn't really happy with the way it all turned out.... it's a bit chaotic, with not much pulling it all together.  I love some of the blocks but wanted to change a few things and actually had set it aside with the idea that I would rip it apart and redo it. 

Yes, I know, most people would never dream of doing that.  But I've been know to take an entire quilt apart and redo it just because I wasn't happy with it.  Sad, but true.  Just ask my friends... 

But in my quest to finish some things, I decided to just have it quilted the way that it was.  So, I gave it to my friend who has a long-arm machine and asked her to quilt it whenever she had the time.  And what a surprise it was to get a call from her a few weeks later to let me know that it was done!

It's quite chaotic, right?!  But take a look at some of the blocks and the quilting that Kathy did.

What can I say?  I find it so fun to work with stripes.  And with this one, I made it look like it had those old photo corners on it by adding the half squares on the corners.  Kathy just added to that with her little "snail trial" quilting.

This shows how old this quilt is.  Kindred Spirits did a fabric line many, many years ago, and that's what I used on the corner squares.  And can you believe that I still have some of the fabric?  It's just waiting on the shelf for the perfect project....

Yep.  Another one that I used a stripe on. 

Okay, so I had to show you one that I wanted to rip out.  How many of you know that I really don't like to use blue in my quilts?  Gray, yes.  Gray-blue, well that's okay too.  But not blue.  I think this may stem from my early years of quilting when many of my quilts were ** gasp ** mauve and country blue.  But, look at the great quilting the Kathy added! 

Another one slipped in that has blue in it.  And the funny thing is that I made both this block and the one before it, so I have no one to blame but myself.  But this one shows how different a block looks when you start adding borders and corners triangles.  And more of Kathy's fun quilting on the brown strips.

I think this may be one of the few ones that I did not make, (I can't remember) but I love the green stripe broken up with the gold triangles.

I just like this block.  A traditional flower with a little applique.

The quilt is a whopping 112" long, so now the big question is how long will this quilt sit before I can get the binding on it?! 

Comments

[leeanne]

WOW!!! I bet your glad you had a clean up, that is one lovely quilt....your quilter has done a fabulous job.

[brigitte Martin]

waouw quelle surprise... j'aimerais faire d'aussi belle trouvaille

[Sue]

I don't know what is chaotic about it. It's beautiful! And your quilter did a lovely job quilting it too!!

[Cindy Carlson]

112 days??

[Patty Tischer Beardslee]

Is this one of your patterns?

[Patty Tischer Beardslee]

Absolutely stunning!

[Laurie]

WOW - amazing quilting! Isn't it cool to see how the quilting can change the look of the quilt - or in this case - even make you fall in love with something you weren't really happy with?! Thanks for sharing this with us :)

[Jessie]

I like this quilt, it's beautiful! Your quilter did a great job too.

[Pepe]

Wonderfull! It isn't cahotic, it's caleidoscopic! :-)

[Cathi]

Well, however long it takes, it will be worth it. I'm really liking that last block with the flower applique. Maybe it will show up in an upcoming book?!

[Debbie St.Germain]

I love it, I love the blocks and love the colors.
I never used blue either, was into the blue and mauves too and got sick of it, but I am loving the use of blues in quilts now.

Debbie

[Perry]

I love this quilt! To me, this looks like a quilt, one made with love and
time. I especially like the last block with the applique. It is wonderful!!!

[zulu]

a perfect lovely great beautiful quilt
wonderful
M

[Mary Lou Casada]

I love how you set it up! The corner pieces to make it look like an album -- inspired (and going into my "idea book")!! I think it turned out beautifully. And I know EXACTLY what you mean about the blue...My first "Teach Yourself How to Quilt" quilt was in (you guessed it LOL!) blue and mauve. I still cringe. At least I sold the top that was deep burgundy and deep teal! :-D
Blessings,
Mary Lou