Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Memories of Astoria - a November finish!

On a bit of a roll this month, though any remaining finishes for the rest of the year will be much smaller! Yesterday I put the last stitch in the binding and added a label on the quilt made for my husband, whose favorite place in the world is Astoria, Oregon.

Nearly all the fabrics for this quilt were found last fall in the little quilt shops that grace nearly every coastal town in the state; we started in Port Orford and traveled north all the way to Astoria along the Columbia River, where we found some gorgeous yardage depicting turn-of-the-20th century salmon canning labels.  So fitting since my husband worked at the OSU Seafood Lab in Astoria while a student at Clatsop Community College many years ago.   The colors in the canning labels are so rich and vibrant, my rather pathetic photo editing skills do not do them justice at all.  Yesterday's weather was also not cooperating for an outdoor photo shoot. Although the snow had stopped by mid-afternoon and we had some sun-breaks, the wind was gusting at 50-60 mph with a wind-chill of 12 degrees.  Not my cup of tea, no siree!


The canning label blocks were sashed with fabrics depicting Oregon - beach grass, the rock jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River, sand dollars, coastal mountain forests, ocean creatures and flora.


Most of the alternate blocks were banded with deep blue fabrics - ocean waves.


And, since Quilty 365 circles were always on my mind this year, it didn't take long to add another 28 or so in various sizes to this quilt!

I hand quilted this quite simply, about 1/8" from the ditch along nearly every seam, then outlined various features within each block.  My husband wanted cotton batting, the Hobbs 80/20 makes the quilt relatively flat and I'm happy with that look for this quilt since we wanted the fabric features to be the focal point, not the quilting.  Finished size is 56x65 inches, just about perfect for an afternoon nap on the couch.
The back - more beach grass.


I'm thankful to have this finished in time for Thanksgiving later this week!  Wishing you all a joyful week with family and friends.

11 comments:

Debbie said...

Beautiful, beautiful.....love memory quilts, even if made from panels. This fabric was a great find to spark your creation. I love all your wonderful hand quilting on this too. It is nice to see something not overly quilted down, isn't it? I know your husband will really enjoy this quilt.

Dana Gaffney said...

That is beautiful! The colors look so rich and I really like the added circles. What an amazing labor of love!

Sherrill said...

How wonderful you made that for your hubby and worked so hard to get all of the just right fabrics to go with the theme! It's beautiful!

Ruth said...

It's perfect! I love how you added the circles like you did. Very colorful and "manly!"

Barbara said...

What a fun memory quilt! Looks great.

Blithe Quilts said...

Lovely! This is a great use of the blue framed circle blocks. They set off the salmon labels.

Janet O. said...

I've loved watching the progress of this quilt. I like the way you incorporated the circles into the design.
Very nice job on the hand quilting. Hope it is appreciated. : )

Kyle said...

Lots of special memories stitched into this quilt. It's beautiful draped on the cupboard. Hope it was used right away.

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

What a wonderful quilt with the deep rich colors, fabric varieties and memories! :)

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

That is really a beautiful quilt!

audrey said...

What a great finish! It's so wonderful to be able to make these sorts of gifts and feel that they truly are appreciated!