It's a Wrap!

My goal this year is to have more finishes than great starts. It's been really tough at times as I feel like there's a leash attached to my creativity. But I'm trying. 

Summers End is a finish!

This quilt {Summer's End} was started in the fall of 2015 and was a quick journey to completed quilt top. I had lots of reasons for putting this quilt together, but mostly I was challenging myself to use up some oldy green fabrics. Plus I needed a fast little hand work project. Which meant the initial decisions were made quickly and without a lot of deep thought. Hmm...

Looking so much better in a close up...

So yeah. It is what it is and I can't say that I'm ashamed of it! But I knew it was lacking just a little bit of that 'ooh, la la' factor that gets us excited to keep quilting. I pulled it out of the quilt drawers this spring in anticipation of finishing it up for a young couple in our family. {Very belated wedding gift, but I felt that I needed time to consider the matter of quite possibly setting a precedent?}There was just something about this quilt top that I really thought could be salvaged into something fun. Thus the decision to try 'tying' a quilt once again after about 20 years!

My fantastic helper, in between baseball season and summer job.
Mom! My arms are killing me!! Are you done yet?

In my reading, wool yarn was suggested for ties that balled up rather than stayed stringy. I went ahead and made the purchase and now, after the first washing, I have very fuzzy, frazzled little ties. It's a bit raggedy looking at the moment, but I'm confident after some good use and more washes, this quilt will have little balls of pink yarn to look at. Personally, I think it adds to the fun, young and don't-take-me-too-seriously vibe going on with this quilt.

The green looks different in every light...

It was quite the experience trying to remember how to 'tie' a quilt properly and I made a couple mistakes. The biggest one being that I didn't tie square knots, instead just knotting it repeatedly and pulling on it real tight. Ughh. There will probably be a couple ties come out eventually if the yarn doesn't fuzz up quickly. Oh well! I machine quilted in a stitch-in-the-ditch pattern throughout the quilt and then came back and hand quilted every little basket with perle cotton. This thing will NOT be falling apart with or without the ties!

Trying to re-learn how to tie a quilt

The soft pink colored ties and binding help lighten the entire quilt up, which I felt it desperately needed. In the end I'm quite happy with the soft, loose drape of the quilt and the cozy look as well. This quilt will probably be used snuggling on the couch and it has the look of a something that won't be intimidating to eat popcorn and snackies while wrapped up in. Right?

A true-blue finish!

This is a pattern that looks marvelous done in the antique look such as sharp red baskets with a white background--all solid fabric punch and power. This one is lots softer and comes off very blendy with that floral basket fabric sort of sparkling in and out. It's not a perfect quilt by any means and I could have done a much better job choosing my fabrics. But it's a finish now and honestly, it just whets my appetite to work on more basket quilts. Get ready my friends, it's going to be a baskety summer around here in my little corner of the quilt world!