A Year to Finish~~ Katie

My blog like most of our blogs is a chronicle of our lives. Family, Graduations, Weddings, showers, new babies, grandbabies, fun, vacations, projects, fabrics, sewing, and of course Quilting.

This one is about an adventure I went on, all alone, by myself, and with delightful results.

It is very picture heavy, but when I make my Blog Book for 2013 it will be in print!

Last summer I came to an epiphany of sorts...

This is what I said..

I think many of us go through this process.

We love a fabric.

We buy a ton of the fabric.

We try to buy the whole line.

We pet the fabric.

We fold and refold the fabric.

We put it in color groups.

We them put it into groups according to the prints.

We stash it...

We save it...

We hoard it...

Just waiting for the right project, the right quilt, the right pattern.

Time ticks by and we have now had the fabric for years and it just sits and stares at us.

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At that point I decided NO MORE!

I was going to use that fabric I loved. I knew I would fall in love with another line and what good did it do sitting on my shelf.

So out came
Denyse Schmidt's
Katie Jump Rope!

As this was going to be an adventure I knew I wanted a King Size Quilt for our bed, BUT, I was going to make this quilt all by hand.  I love handwork. So I started by cutting it all into squares.

I then started the piecing.

Two by Two

Became four by four

Became eight by eight

Became a sixteen patch block

They were then pieced into the flimsy.

Still all by hand.

The backing, I asked many of you if you thought flannel was a good idea for a backing. Thank you to everyone who responded!

But alas, I was chicken, I did not use it, not on Katie. I thought this was not a time to experiment. So I went with a cotton backing. I am thrilled with my choice, and will for sure try flannel on my next quilt!

There is one part of quilting I do not like

Basting!

So Katie was sent to my long-arm friend, where she basted her for me. She even used hot pink thread so I could see the thread when it needed to be removed.

 Now let the fun begin!

The hand quilting.

I did this is simple rows, both horizontal and vertical.

Added my binding....

and...

Katie was done!

We then went on a phot shoot, after all she had been cooped up for a whole year.
This lady needed some fresh air!

May I present

Katie!

She looks so tiny here!

But she is 108 inches by 120 inches.

She is now home, washed and on our bed. What a treat to sleep under!

Now if I could just stop hoarding holding on to this fabric!

Have a wonderful weekend, do something you love!

Ours is filled with family and fun!