Finally Getting Quilty 365 Finished!

My quilty 365 quilt is finished. Yay for me! Completely hand quilted of course, how could I do otherwise with this particular quilt? It's become a favorite of favorites, representing a year in the life of my long-lived quilting journey. This project was started in October of 2015 and early the next month I invited others to join me in the fun.

The center of Quilty 365

Some eagerly jumped right in and others waited for the new year to start. It was a roller coaster sort of project, but always intriguing to imagine the end result. So many different options when we all considered layout!

A year long journey!

There were so many gorgeous and super unique quilts made from this prompt that it just blew our minds. Creativity should never be surprising, but somehow most of us never expected the many and varied variations. How could such a simple idea explode into so many different interpretations? Too, I was always sort of bemused that as many quilters choosing to play along as did. Many dropped out as the linkup continued on, but there were a few determined gals who made it all the way to the quilt top stage! {And others who finished later or broke it down into smaller blocks and finished more than one!} A dedicated year long project is hard to maintain....

So glad to see the value changes...

My circles started out as offerings from the overflowing scrap bin, but later on, moved into more snazzy choices from the stash totes. There are a few repeats when it comes to the scrap bin circles, but nothing very obvious. Basically, the scrap bin got booooring so it was time to try something different. And then later, I realized that I absolutely adored the scrappy circles, even more so than the solid fabric ones. Huh. How's that for being obstinate....

And the darker border....

Somewhere towards the end of the year, I took a month or so and started choosing greens and blues with a black background. Just for the comfort and serenity of working with greens and blues and also, to limit my choices. I love how that ended up being a focal point of the quilt, adding some excellent value and depth {plus a nifty border look{, but also, creating a space for the center to react to and glow. Don't you just love a good glow in a quilt?

Quilty 365 feels like a good finish!

Who knew my quilt could end up so very happy looking? If you look closely there are definitely circles that are very dull and dreary looking, no doubt representing a day that was quite glum. That was one thing I never worried excessively about, whether or not all the colors and fabrics would play nicely together at the end. Somehow I felt confident that it would end up looking the way it was meant to be. Warts and all, this is real life embedded deeply into my quilt! And yes, it was leap year, so there's actually 366 circles in all. The name 'Quilty 365' was never meant to say anything other than 'this is my quilty year'.

Vintage Red getting close to a finish....

Now I have another quilt {Vintage Red} with the binding sewn on by machine and ready for that final hand stitching. It will be the 8th finish of the year, which does feel pretty good.

Hey Grandma next up in the hoop!

 As all of you know, I can't bear for the hoop to be empty for long. After an annoying session of sandwiching and pinning last week, I'm finally looking down at 'Hey Grandma' in the hoop. I went ahead and stitched in the ditch {with my trusty Bernina} between all the blocks and now I'm coming back and doing some hand quilting around the applique.

A good place for hand stitching...

It's not nearly as exciting a quilt as the previous two, but it does have its own charm and whimsy. Working with color is always extremely fascinating to me, but as usual, using a predominance of greens continues to mystify. I just haven't found the secret of secrets yet. Must be why I keep giving all the quilts heavy on greens away! Once I finally get it right, you can believe that I will melt into a big 'ol squishy marshmallow--probably feel very proprietary and never, ever give that particular quilt away....