Thursday, March 25, 2021

So Much Fun to Finish up a Forever Project!

Well, all good things must come to an end. The HST Medallion quilt is completely finished up! All 102 inches! One of those projects started sort of by impulse, but not really. I'd looked and looked and LOOKED at a picture of an antique quilt, wistfully thinking about how cool it would be to own one.

HST Medallion is done!!!!

Then one day, it just happened. I found myself putting together the centerpiece of a four year long project! It happened in fits and starts of course. Things this complicated always do around here. 

A lot going on with this one...

How in the world could I possibly make myself work on one quilt and one quilt only? Yeah. Not happening. I folded HST Medallion in half and laid it where I normally take the quilty pictures. Just so you could see the scope of how large this one is. She's a big 'ol beauty! When I moved the table out of the way {with the help of one of my daughters}, and tried to take a picture of the entire thing? It was basically a fail. It really needs to be hung up on a line and a pic. taken from a good distance. The light wasn't very friendly in that area of the room either. C'est la vie.

Trying to get a picture of the full quilt

I'd say that I don't know what possessed me to make this particular quilt, but that wouldn't be true. For some rather peculiar reason, I'm happiest when there is one forever type quilt project lurking about in the quilt room, be it all piecing, or all applique, or even a mix of the two. Call me crazy. It's almost definitely gonna be happening again some day!

All hand quilted

For one thing, I don't like feeling inadequate or incapable of making any sort of quilt that I put my mind to. Even terribly difficult quilts can be accomplished one little baby step at a time! Another thing that has occurred to me is that I might possibly relish? having an {almost} impossible task so that everything else seems quite doable by comparison. So silly, but it works.

The lighter blue hsts are facing the opposite
direction, on purpose....

You'd be amazed at how much I've accomplished through the years avoiding these super challenging quilts of mine! Or maybe you wouldn't. I've been pretty transparent about my love/hate relationship with the taking-forever, entirely too tedious, horribly intimidating quilt projects that crop up every four or five years.
My favorite view of a quilt

This quilt wasn't the most complex in the world, but it does have an awful lot of half square triangles in it. And precision sewing is not exactly my forte! If you look closely, there's just a little tiny bit of wave happening on the outside border in a couple places.*sigh  I haven't washed the quilt either, like I love to do. Though I love the crinkly look, I'm terrified some of the blue fabric might have a bleeding issue. Once it's washed up some day in the future, I'm pretty sure that slight waving issue will be less obvious, but for now we're all good. Totally content to wait!

Three impossible tasks that somehow 
made it to a finish!

Not that I'm ashamed of the issue at all. This quilt is way beyond what I ever hoped to accomplish back in my early days of quilting! If you'd have told me 20 years ago that I'd be making any one of the three stacked quilts {in the previous photo}? I'd have laughed in total disbelief!

For a quick trip down memory lane, I pulled the two other {very labor intensive} quilts that seemed to take forever and a day. I mean, there are lots of time consuming quilts around here, but these are the grand poobah's of sheer grit and determination getting me through! All three quilts are ones that I most definitely despaired over at different times and had to really push myself to get in another hour or two of work done here and there. Just to say that I hadn't given up on them! And I've got a sneaky suspicion that Melon Patch might be trying to join the list. But that's a story for another day.

You can read about the Pickle Dish quilt here and Worry Baskets here. All three quilts take me right back to a certain day years and years ago in a small town grocery store, impulsively buying a quilt magazine. I was completely mesmerized by a specific quilt in it, though I didn't have a single clue how to get started on making my own. And no, I never did make that particular quilt! It took a lot of years, many ups and downs, trial and error, learning, learning, learning, but now? I darn well will make whatever quilt I put my mind to. And you can guarantee, they'll be a whole lot better than anything pictured in that long ago quilt magazine.... 




38 comments:

  1. Love your big forever quilts. All of them i like very much.

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  2. Congratulations! I'm so impressed with and in love with that beauty! Guess you never know what you can accomplish until you try!

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  3. Its the forever quilts that we just have to do. Can't wait to see the next one

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  4. This quilt is beautiful! Your explanation of tackling the challenging quilts really resonates with me and encourages me not to be afraid to plunge in with the "impossible" quilts. I can't wait to see what you finish next.

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  5. Bravo! A beautiful quilt that you will have fun to drool (not on those blue fabrics) over because you did it!

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  6. Four years?! It doesn't seem like that long to me. Regardless, it is a beauty and I know that you will treasure it - a work of love. Nothing wrong with 'forever' projects - the bulk of mine seem to fit into that category lately :D.

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  7. that sure is a lot of hst's! good job! hope the weather will make it possible that you can get an outside photo - or on your bed might work as well. Great job for sticking with it.

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  8. Absolutely beautiful. I have several 'forever quilts' in the works...especially those with so many of the 'same' block. You give me hope!

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  9. Even though it seems much of our quilting time is devoted to the typical baby and donation quilts it's so important that a special few become our forever quilts, that we've given ourselves permission to get off the quilting rat-racetrack and make something that's meant just for ourselves. This quilt knocks it out of the ballpark, from all the intricate piecing to your wonderful quilting! Congratulations on another gorgeous finish!.

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  10. Woohoo! What an accomplishment! Some quilts are just worth the wait and this one surely is! Congratulations.

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  11. Your forever quilt is so wonderful. The description of how and why you tackle these impossible quilts gives me a peek at your determination and pluck. You are fantastic and a real inspiration. Thanks to your inspiration, I am working on a vintage quilt, adding lots of scrumptious hand appliqued circles. So fun! Happy Stitching.

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  12. You did it again. Another amazing quilt!

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  13. Such a wonderful accomplishment! It always feels so good to finish something that you know is going to take years but you can't rest till you finish it. This is an amazing project.

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  14. Your quilt is wonderful - I LOVE it!! Congratulations on the finish. I know exactly what you mean by "forever" quilts as I've had a few of them myself - one took me 17 years! Such a great feeling to finish!

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  15. Congratulations Audrey, what a wonderful accomplishment. I love the look of the quilt, along with the other two, long term ones. I have one that has been around for 30 years however, I would say it has lived in a box for 27 of those years. It is waiting to be hand quilted, has been since 2016, all ready to start after Easter. Thanks for being so inspirational.
    Kay. kay@kaysan.com.au

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  16. Congratulations on this awesome finished quilt. What an accomplishment. Nice story behind it too. It is fabulous.

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  17. So beautiful, as are your other two labor intensive projects. I love your advice about just tackling one small piece/ aspect at a time, wonderful.
    Sometimes if I am scared to wash a densely pigmented quilt, I spray the back with cold water n a plastic spray bottle, not soaking wet. Give it a few minutes to soak into the batting, but not thru to the front. I hang the quilt on the shower railing to do this. Then put it in the dryer on a fairly warm temp. You want to go fast.

    lizzy

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  18. A stunning quilt! I thought the piecing was a mission, but then you go and hand quilt it too.... I can almost feel the texture and those little 'pops' of gold look so dynamic in your finished quilt, an heirloom for sure!

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  19. Your newest Forever Quilt is an awesome accomplishment. It doesn't matter how long the journey is, but it does feel glorious when you get to the finish.

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  20. Huge congratulations! I'm so impressed by your artistry and precision! And patience. Well worth it for such a lifetime quilt! I love your colors and the diagonal effect. I love how you snuck in that one pink-ish very low contast row of HSTs. I think all three of your forever quilts are marvelous.

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  21. Well done on your finished quilt, its absolutely gorgeous. And wow all those hst's you've done a brilliant job!!!

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  22. Congrats on a fabulous finish! Grit and determination for sure - love the result!

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  23. Well done Audrey!!! It looks nothing less than amazing! Your are persistent to get to the end of each one of those time consuming quilts. How proud and awesome you must feel when you gaze upon those beauties.

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  24. You make a wonderful quilt! A wonderful mix of vintage yet modern goodness.

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  25. Your work is brilliant, fun, and exciting...great persistence, and delightful eye candy xo

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  26. I like your attitude as much as I like your quilts, Audrey. This is a wonderful finish and if it spurs you on to your next forever quilt then so much the better.

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  27. Congratulations! It's funny how certain quilts spark our interest but other quilts are the ones we end up making. Like your first look at a quilt magazine. I love medallions but don't make enough and pickle dish has been on my love list for years... along with baskets. It's so good to see someone making the quilts I haven't and hitting them all out of the park. Hooray for you, Audrey.

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  28. A long long time ago when I was a newbie quilt maker, I took the Dresden plates from a previously made but horribly worn/stained quilt and lifted them away from that dreariness so I could appliqué them onto new backgrounds. The quilt (Thirty Years Later) took forever but it was SO worth the time. It has hung on the wall at the head of our bed for the last 20 years and there are NO plans to move it. So forever quilts are wonderful projects. I actually need to generate one that does not involve sitting a the machine for 'forever'. I love all 3 of the quilts you showed today but the HST medallion is really the star!

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  29. Your quilt is gorgeous, all of them! I can't imagine doing that many HSTs and having them come out so perfectly. Did you square them all up too? Your accomplishments must give you an incredibly good feeling!

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  30. Your HST Medallion is GORGEOUS!! Such an accomplishment. Love how the HST work with the dark borders. Go you! 👏👏👏

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  31. I'm glad you posted a picture of all 3 forever quilts, 'cause I had forgotten about the pickle dish. I definitely think your latest quilt looks the most difficult as the repetition would KILL me! Glad you overcame and are alive and well enough to use all of your beautiful creations!

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  32. Congratulations! I absolutely love how this turned out. It is amazing to look at. Thanks for sticking with it so we could enjoy the photos! LOL
    And it looks perfect from here. You never fail to inspire me.

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  33. What a beauty, your HST medallion quilt is! Audrey, your 3 forever quilts are my favourites of all your creations.

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  34. Another one bites the dust! Oh, wait, keep the dust away from this beauty! Wow, perseverance and lots of love for the project made it happen, and so proud of your work! Keep growing and inspiring us!

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  35. Congratulations Audrey, not only this beautiful quilt but also the fact that it's hand quilted!!! Such a treasure to add to your quilt collection.

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  36. Yowsa, Wowsa and love it!! Well worth the time and effort. To be cherished!

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