Tree of Life in the Hoop and the Other HST Quilt in the Works

Like most other diligent hand quilters, I tend to roll straight from one quilt in the hoop to the very next. This 'Tree of Life' quilt has been calling my name lately, sort of impatiently if you want to know the truth of it. It seems to be the time. 

Tree of Life in the hoop

So, okay, I'm fine with working on these colors right about now. Winter is settling into it's 'Oh no! There's more snow! mode and everything is sooo cold and chilly. These colors are bright, peppy and just feel good in contrast. This quilt was one of those bucket list quilts but also a very whimsical start. I need to remember that all those stacks of fabric piling up around my quilt room will eventually find their day as well.

Also something important to remember is that just because a quilt was on my bucket list doesn't mean that it will end up looking exactly as imagined. This crazy blend of busy-ish fabrics tend to make this quilt look a little more vintage that all the patterns and photos I usually admired. I really stretched myself with this fabric selection and that's a good thing. It feels unique and makes each block feel a little more special. I had to work harder to feel satisfied if you know what I mean. Plus I learned a lot. I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for making and learning from these sorts of choices 3 1/2 years ago! And yeah, it's a little wonky from using homespun fabrics in the setting triangles and not trimming every block to exactly square. Hand quilting will take care of the worst of it {it's very forgiving} and then washing and drying after should take care of the rest of the wonk. In spite of the fact that this quilt rejected most all the fun colors of perle cotton, {it wants to do boring white/cream thread}, we're all good here.

Tree of Life

This past weekend saw me working on adding another round of borders to my HST Medallion quilt too. It was the 5th round of first the black coping strip border and then the pieced triangle border. I tend to lump them both into '1 border round'. It never seems to photograph well when the pink hst's are on the outside edge, especially if they are sewn in the lightest pink colors. Ughh...  Oh well. You can get the idea of where I'm at--exactly halfway through the 10 rows of hst border work! Uh huh. It's gonna be a big one....

One more border for the HST Medallion

I am extremely pleased to report that this hst border went on together as well as the last one did! Yay! Improvements have been made and might be here to stay! {Well, for the life of this quilt anyway...} Lots of notes to refer to, but basically there are specific perimeters that make all the difference in precision. So proud to know that all that improv. work hasn't quite ruined me yet....

HST Medallion about halfway thru....

And because I couldn't bear to take if off the wall just yet, I simply piled all the quilting paraphernalia back on the counter like usual, pushing and stacking it way to the back. Can you believe I iron large quilt tops in this space? Without emptying the countertop first? If you've been following me for very long, you understand that my quilting room is quite small. There is absolutely no room for complete chaos and I often have to tidy up just to jump to the next quilt. Projects are almost all in small totes or the 'in progress' units piled right on top. I have to be extra efficient with all my under-the-counter-space and try really hard to always have my iron and cutting area board ready at a moments notice too. Seriously, I am not complaining! Anythings better than having to work from the corner of the living room, dining room table and/or hall closet like I did for so many years. Having a dedicated quilt space is divine. I'm imploring you, please make room for your own if you haven't yet! You'll never, ever regret it.

Linking up with Linda and Julie for sew, stitch, snap, SHARE!