a bittersweet finish

I am sad and happy that I have finished Sam's quilt. It has been a long term project that kept me busy and happy for many months. I enjoyed every aspect of this project, from choosing the fabrics with Sam to hand stitching the binding. If I had to pick a favourite part, it would probably be hand stitching the binding. I love to remove pin after pin until none are left and the binding is done.

The fabric is from one line, Loominous, designed by Anna Maria Horner. The fabrics are woven (i.e. not prints) and differ in texture and feel, which is lovely. With hindsight, three of the Loominous fabrics are not ideal for a quilt. These have a lovely loosely woven detail that makes them prone to fraying.

I love Anna Maria Horner's designs and have been secretly stocking up on her fabric lines for a while. They are difficult to come by here in the UK. I would love to see more UK suppliers stocking the entire line of a designer, to choose one or two or twelve different fabrics. So many suppliers here just stock one or two fabrics of a line and it is rarely the one I covet. I sometimes like to work with one design line  only because I am lazy I want to honour the work that has gone into creating something whole that goes well together. For my own quilts, I would normally mix and match fabrics but I wanted Sam to choose the fabric and it just seemed less of an effort to show him entire lines rather than letting him rummage through my precious stash. He would have hated that. Teenage time is precious!

For Sam's quilt, I used almost every last scrap of the 27 Loominous fabrics. I used it of for the quilt top, the backing and the binding. Cutting squares is quite economical and there is little waste. The only other fabric I used was a grey sheet from Ikea for the backing. I think it works beautifully with the colourful quilt top and the stripe on the backing.

The quilt top was made with 5 inch half square triangles, arranged to make a diamond pattern. I enjoyed making the half square triangles, simple and effective. The assembly was easy and I think most corners match more or less.

The quilting was all done by hand. I used a smallish running stitch and followed all the seam lines horizontally, vertically and diagonally across the entire quilt. I think it makes a pretty pattern on the grey back, too. If I were to make another quilt with half square triangles, I would probably stitch along the inside of each triangle rather than the long lines I have done here. I used a YLI cotton hand quilting thread, which I liked. This I worked into the quilt with John James quilters needles number 10. These are extra sharp and a pleasure to work with. The eye of the needle is just big enough to thread without a needle threading aid, something I could not do with my other quilting needles, the Clover Gold Eye quilting needle. I hand quilt without a loop because I think the result is softer and has more of a used feel to it. I know this comes with time anyway but I like a quilt to feel well used even if it is not (yet).

I couldn't yet bring myself to hand the quilt over to Sam. I still have the need to look at it, stroke it and enjoy the achievement as I do so. Once it disappears in Sam's man cave, it won't be seen. I don't really set foot in his cave anymore, except to bring him a cup of coffee once in a blue moon or when I urgently need a tea spoon. These seem to be magically attracted to his room, to disappear for ever after.

Thanks for stopping by and saying hello. It is good to see you here. Have a splendid week! x