Monday, March 14, 2016

A Finished Top

Well, I must admit  that my Quilty 365 circles have gotten a week (or more) behind, but we do have this to show for my (lack of) effort on that front over the past few days.
Oregon Memories (aka Astoria) quilt top completed!

Yes, there are needleturn appliqued circles on this quilt top - 28 of them if anyone's counting and I am! The double circle in the center where the fish are 'framed' by the porthole, counts as two in my book. There are several additional circles and a starfish block that didn't make the cut for the front but may make an appearance on the back of the quilt.  The top measures 57 by 66 inches.

A bit closer look
As I began to lay the circles on the design wall, it was easy to see that this top was becoming very somewhat chaotic.  All those random 1-1/2 inch border strips around the canning label blocks needed a stopping point.  After laying the blocks on possible sashings of various colors, none of which I liked, I settled on bordering the alternate (circle) blocks with a single border strip around each block. Though I had found an assortment of small pieces of deep blue tone-on-tone fabrics in the various scrap totes which looked good together, there weren't enough to complete the top.    Debbie at Stitchin Therapy came to the rescue with a piece of similar blue mottled fabric from her stash and I was able to complete the last two circle block borders.  Thank you Debbie!

A bit of South Carolina in the Oregon Memories quilt.  Thanks Debbie!

My husband loves his new quilt top, and it will go into the hoop as soon as the back is pieced from the leftover pieces of fabrics we picked up while in Oregon last fall.  So many sweet memories for him of the place he loves best, wrapped up in this quilt.


And my little bonus, there are enough scraps left of the novelty prints to make Quilty 365 circles from each to add to the collection!

14 comments:

Debbie said...

Wonderful!! I am so glad to have been able to help you finish off this special memories quilt top. I love how you achieved such balance in the layout and all the interest the circles bring. No problem including them in your circle count...lol, even if you have to do them again.
super job on this one! I love it :)

Janet O. said...

Congrats on a great finish! What a fun memory quilt for your hubby.
How nice that Debbie came to your rescue. She is a sweetheart!
Circles from the leftovers will be a great addition to your 365 project.

Barbara said...

What a wonderful quilt! Great job.

Kyle said...

Your quilt seemed like putting a puzzle together, but it all came together in the end. What a wonderful memory quilt for your husband and you as well.

Dana Gaffney said...

Wow! Those beautiful rich colors and those pictures, it's really wonderful and those circles add so much to it, I'm so glad he wanted them included.

audrey said...

Yay! Wonderful to get to this point in the quilt! So glad your husband appreciates your wonderful effort. It's a great quilt!

liniecat said...

That quilt looks wonderful, it is like a puzzle visually as well as its formulation lol But it is such an interesting layout you've chosen, the eye is drawn to so many parts of it, it will always be fascinating to look at whilst snuggling beneath it!

Paulette said...

What a cool quilt! The circles, or portholes, add an interesting, eye-catching dimension. I'm a little behind on my Quilty 365's too, but we'll get caught up.

Ruth said...

It's wonderful! The circles really helped fill in the spaces. I can see it took a lot of planning to get everything together, but it came out looking great!

Needled Mom said...

I can see why he is so pleased with it. It looks wonderful. The circles look great in that setting. I really like the canning labels.

Kaja said...

What a great quilt - I'm not surprised your husband is pleased. You got everything really balanced in the end too. I'm another one who's behind on the 365 circles.

cspoonquilt said...

Love the fishy labels and all your circles together! The layout is really great makes it more interesting to look at!

Judith said...

Beautiful - everything is so well balanced, color, circles, and labels.

Angie said...

What a unique way to set those canning labels - very clever and a wonderful result!