It Was Meant to Be

Another quilt made it through to the finish line lately. I've been kind of holding back on this one because I had decided to gift it and I didn't want to spoil the surprise. It's one that has been in the works for years and years.

Shattered is finished!

The first post I could find about this particular quilt was here in 2014. It's not been a particularly flashy or impressive quilt, but still, it's one that I. Just. Could. Not. Get. Rid. Of. Now I'm thinking maybe it was meant to be?

It's little, but it's mighty

This quilt named itself 'Shattered' way back in the early stages. All those little bits and pieces from the scrap bin coming together into a larger whole. I had big plans for this quilt and then the inspiration just melted away under the reality of making an entire quilt straight from the monster scrap pile. Too much good stuff in the stash totes to hide out in the scrap bin for weeks on end!

Loving the centerpiece now

I machine quilted wavy lines and ran into all sorts of troubles. Duh! While sandwiching and pinning, tape had popped loose on one side and it never really did get taut enough after that. You know me, nothing much slows me down once I get started, and I just shrugged it off and kept going.

The heart could be a little fuller on the left, but hey, that's improv.

I wasn't really too concerned as this wasn't something I felt especially invested in, if you know what I mean. And then I decided to gift it to a dear friend who had lost her husband of over 25 yrs. earlier this year.*groan.... I mean seriously, it's a perfectly good comfort quilt, right? But now what to do with my 'less than par' quilt? So I picked up a wash-out marker and roughly marked out a heart right in the middle of the quilt. Oh the symbolism! And then I stitched like a crazy woman for a couple days until it was all filled in. Let's just say that she is a very good friend.

I seriously considered putting the label over that red stain,
but thought that might be a little too weird, even for me...

And now let's just say WOW and leave it at that. I was {am}, frankly, in awe of what that simple stitched heart did to this little 'plain jane' quilt. So many, many times I almost dumped this quilt in the trash, or sent it down the road as an orphan project. Instead, I kept picking it back up and adding a little more to it. What if I use a recycled mans shirt for the border? What if I dig a little deeper into the stash totes and see what might work to bring this quilt to a good finish? I truly love it now. It all makes perfect sense and tells a wonderful story. All the scrappy bits, the meaning and symbolism, the texture, who it's going to and how much they might be needing a 'wrap-you-in-love' sort of quilt right about now...

So glad I didn't throw it away!

As usual, I washed the quilt after it was completed {in this case I did the 12 hr. soak},and wowsers, did this one bleed out! It was worse than any other I have ever finished before! Must be all those different red fabrics combined in one quilt. Very disappointing to see one little area on the back {see pic above} where the red had bled through to the back and would NOT go away. I'm sure if I had soaked it for another 12-24 hours that would have made a difference, but one day is about my limit to tie up the bathtub. Just so thankful that all the migrating dye didn't ruin the top and I don't think my friend cares one whit.*whew!

A nice little bundle of fun!

Something fun, I finally received my winnings from entering in the Bloggers Quilt Festival! Thanks Amy! It's been so long since I've won anything, that it felt a little like Christmas! It's a 'Lazy Days' by Gina Martin F8 bundle from Moda along with a cute bag, some lovely thread and a couple other fun goodies. Once piece of the fabric immediately caught my eye and will be washed up pronto. Exactly what I need for a project that I've been eyeballing as a new start! 

Quarter Circles--Round #2

I also was able to move another quilt into the hoop and get started stitching on it--Quarter Circles--Round #2. It's been a tough one to take good pictures of, but this quilt is making my heart very happy. Now. Back in 2015, it was one of those quilt top finishes that I made the best of and just moved on. So many good fabrics included in this quilt though, can't help but respond to that! 

My family is not very excited about the yellow, but it's Fall ya'll! And that means I like to get out some of those more seasonal colored quilt to stitch away on. Soon as this one is done then I have promised myself that I will finally get going on another one in similar colors that I'm not nearly as excited to stitch on. First the one that I WANT to work on and then, the one I've been dragging my heels about for the last several years. Even more than this one if that's possible....