Finish!! (and a long time a'coming)

Yesterday I had the pleasure of throwing my newly finished 16-year-old albatross queen size quilt into the washer and dryer in hopes of removing the various markings and abundance of kitty fur clinging to the top.  Happily, all of the marks and (most of) the kitty fur are gone.  I've got to warn you, after 16 years in the making, this post is going to be photo-heavy!    So, here we go, first photo was taken right after I finished stitching down the binding, before throwing it in the washer. 

And now, the "after"

A very exciting shot of the back - and a rippled back it is, though not as noticeable now that it has had time in the washer and dryer.

My first attempt at needle-turn hand applique

And some of the individual blocks.  This quilt is titled "Biblical Blocks" and is from a book of the same name by Rosemary Makhan, published in 1993.  

I won't bore you with all my tribulations in putting this quilt together, let's just say I love my rotary cutter after having cut all these little pieces individually from templates!  The needle-turn appliqued border took over a year of evenings, and the hand quilting, probably another 2+ years!  And there were other "must-do" quilts that had to take precedence along the way.   But now it's finished and hanging on the quilt rack in our room awaiting a night cool enough to toss it on the bed.  Of course actually putting it on the bed means more kitty fur ... lots more kitty fur ... and so it goes!