Monday, May 1, 2017

Quilty 365 - The Final Link-up

This may be the last official link-up for Quilty 365, but it won't be the last time you see these circles, because this baby is just in the beginning stages of quilting.  As of today I've hand quilted an area about 14 x 60 inches, working my way from the center to a corner of this giant.  It's going slower than I'd like, mostly because of all the 'opportunity quilts' that have come my way of late.  But I don't mind a bit, I love, love, LOVE seeing this in the hoop and spread across the carpet when I walk into the sewing room each day! Just having it there right next to my desk is enticement to pick up the needle and take a few stitches whenever I have a few moments.

Very simple big stitch quilting in the sashings and blocks.  I like how quilting down the sashing is making all those blocks puff up just a bit, though difficult to see in the angle of this photo.

I've loved working on this quilt-along from the very first block ...
through weeks of mulling over whether I'd have enough of my chosen sashing and setting triangle fabric...turns out there were just a few scraps to spare after putting it all together.

The back story of why I was so keen on using this sashing fabric for this particular quilt. My blogging friend, the late Kathy Porter (http://nanato4ts.blogspot.com) gifted me with a box of her beautiful fabrics when she was downsizing her stash.  This fabric was included in the box and the tone-on-tone circles seemed a perfect fit for the Quilty 365 project from the very beginning. I am reminded of Kathy's encouraging words and her generosity whenever I see this fabric.

Carrying the circle theme to the borders, though a bit less obviously, I chose these two dark fabrics to bring the top to its final size.
Teeny tiny circles in the border fabrics!

There aren't any photos of the entire finished top, because there isn't a surface in our home large enough to lay out anything measuring over 110x110 inches, and it was far too wet and muddy outside before the top was sandwiched for quilting.  Half of the quilt is shown in the next photo, taken while pinning the layers at the church fellowship hall.

I used 313 of my 366 circles in this quilt, the remainder to find their way into another project sometime in the future (looking for for inspiration for that future quilt among all the link-ups today!). But, these were not the only circles made last year! Oh no, Quilty 365 was just the beginning, and turned out to be the inspiration to include more circles in yet another quilt, Oregon Memories, completed for my husband last year.

When this huge quilt will be finished is anybody's guess, but I'm hoping to see it quilted, bound and in its place of honor on the guest bed before the end of the year.  My thanks to Audrey at Quilty Folk for hosting this fun quilt-along!  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's final creations, and you can see them too by following this link to Audrey's blog.
a glimpse of things to come - couldn't resist!

27 comments:

Debbie said...

Wonderful. Great post. Love all the details of your circle story and I am so glad you had enough fabric to carry it thru as a remembrance of a friend too. The quilting is just enough to set it all off.

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

how exciting to see that you have started quilting it ; it is gorgeous !

Dana Gaffney said...

It's beautiful and I can feel your love and enjoyment through your words, I'm glad this isn't the last time we get to see it. Thanks for showing the Oregon quilt again, I so love that one :)

Marie said...

Little wonder that you love, love, love it - I do too!

SandraC said...

I love your quilt and the sashing....made even more special by the memory of your friend.

Kyle said...

It was nice to be reminded of the back story of your circle year. The big stitches look fantastic. I bet you'll be surprised how quickly you get this one finshed

jann said...

I love how you set the circles! The background really sets off the circles as well as being a wonderful reminder of your friend. Congratulations on sticking with it for the full year!

Sherrill said...

Yours is my fave of all I've seen. LOVE the way you set it and it's simply spectacular. I've started making circles but mine are larger (6.5") and only going to do 120 as it will wind up being a donation quilt. Congrats on the (near) finish.

Needled Mom said...

Beautiful. Enjoy the hand quilting of it.

Wendy Caton Reed said...

Fantastic! I love your setting and your hand quilting.

Quiltdivajulie said...

What a beautiful, wonderful quilt -- enjoy the quilting process.

LJ said...

I do love that you put your circles on point and added sashing. I just finished month 8 (April) and am now thinking about what I'll do for the finish.

Janet O. said...

It looks magnificent! I totally understand why you were so anxious to have that fabric in the quilt. Kathy was a very sweet and kind woman--devoted to her family! Wonderful to have that fabric from her in the quilt!
Love your hubby's quilt, too!

Iherba said...

Precioso tu Quilt 365. El Sashing en rojo le da mucha alegría al quilt. Felicidades. Isabel

audrey said...

This is such a great version! So rich and cozy looking with some lovely sentiment too. I too want to hand quilt mine, can't imagine doing anything else at this point! Thanks so much for linking up with the rest of us.:)

Barbara said...

It looks just great, Pat. I love the fabric you chose for your sashings. Such a pretty color and it stands out nicely with the black borders. I also love your Oregon memories quilt.

Karen's Korner said...

When reading your blog I can feel that you enjoyed your journey through the year just as much as I did. Good luck with the quilting.

Ruth said...

It's wonderful! Whoever gets to sleep under it might not get much sleep because they will want to examine all the various circles of fabric. What a fun project! Seeing your DH's quilt again makes me think about my idea for making a "fishing" quilt for one of my DSs. His 2 brothers each got an airplane/eagle quilt and now I need to make him one. He's a RN and loves to fish, so I'm thinking a fishing quilt would be good. I haven't even started looking for fabric yet, but I love the layout of your DH's quilt. I may have to do some circle blocks.

Angie said...

Oh my goodness! Your Quilty 365 quilt is gorgeous - the red sashing and dark borders really look wonderful! Kudos for going with the on-point setting, too. I originally wanted to do that, but lost faith when I realized how big the resulting quilt would be.

Heidi said...

Thank you for inspiring me to join in with Audrey's challenge! Your quilt is absolutely stunning, and no, your guests will not get much sleep with so much to admire.

Lizzy D said...

Lovely version.

Wonky Girl said...

Your quilt-along quilt is beautiful. Makes me wish I had joined (but I don't have that many suitable scraps).

Cathy said...

WOW! WOW! and WOW! What a gorgeous version of Quilty 365.

Teresa in Music City said...

I LOVE IT!!! And how wonderful to have Kathy's fabrics in there - so hard to believe she's gone :(

Glenda said...

Your Quilty365circles quilt is stunning and so beautiful, I can see why you get so much enjoyment walking in to your lounge and seeing it spread out in the hoop and across the floor. Your red fabric is so perfect with those shadow circles woven or printed in to the fabric. I know you will be sorry when you put the last stitch in to this lovely quilt so many memories rolled in to those wee circles. I have also enjoyed going back through your blog the last 1/2 an hour thanks so much for sharing how you started and ended this quilt. Cheers Glenda another quilter who loves her 365 wee circles.

Maryse said...

Beautiful, I love the red sashing and it looks so good on the bed!!

Paulette said...

I'm so glad you were able to squeak all your sashing out of that beautiful fabric, in honor of your friend. What a great part of the story of the circle quilt. It's so beautiful, and I am in awe that you are hand quilting it. My circles are still not put together in any manner, but I'll get there. Got sidetracked this winter after my dad's fall in January and some complications, but I'll get there. I've gotten an idea though, at least.