This finish was long in the making.  I started making large (9″ square) scrappy HSTs in the beginning of 2016 as my RSC16 project.  They were a lot of fun to make and I easily finished the quilt top by the end of the year. Then I promptly pressed it, hung it neatly in the closet, and closed the door. It languished for all of 2017, poor ignored quilt top.  I think I left it there because I felt it was too small and I wasn’t sure what to do with it.

At the beginning of this year, I decided to make a stack of 5″ squared scrappy blocks.  Without any plan, I figured I would somehow use them for a border.  After making the blocks, I figured out the size rectangles I needed to space between the squares to create the border.  For the most part, this worked ok.  But you know me and quilt math…..  When I laid out the border and it looked like I would be coming up short, I just expanded one or two of the scrappy blocks to compensate.  I hope this doesn’t offend anyone.  It doesn’t bother me. 🙂

In fact, I love it.  I am wild about this quilt.  It is my kind of project. Imperfection works in this sort of quilt.  I am pleased with the colors, the polka dot background which provides a nice spot for the eye to rest, the border of gray dots between the HST’s and the scrappy border – all of it!  This one took a long while to come together, but it was worth the wait! I took it to the long arm shop and quilted it with a meandering loopy motif.  Some little spirals, some large loops and some small ones. It left the quilt with a nice, cozy drape. This was a lot of fun to quilt and took no time at all.

For the backing, I chose Newsprint in a wide back. This was designed by Carrie Bloomston and is probably my favorite backing. When I ordered my first bolt of it, I was pleasantly surprised to sell the bolt within weeks.  I just received a second bolt so I have it in stock again.  Because it is such a fun print, I also take the wide back and cut fat quarters and 1/2 yard pieces. Each of these (wide back, fat quarter, and 1/2 yard cuts) are available in my shop.

The binding is a print by Lotta Jansdotter called Aliisa from her Lemmikki line. I really like this fabric but looking back, I don’t know if it is the best match for the quilt.  The color is “slate” but when it is next to Newsprint and the gray dotted background, it has a very blue tone.  Because the quilt is so scrappy, I decided to go with it anyway. I like the angular pattern of the print. So, I think it is ‘good enough’.  I did go back to the listing though and update my description to explain about the blue hues this fabric has. If you are intrigued by this one, click here to see the shop listing.

I can happily check this one off the list and report I am down to three unfinished quilts in the closet.  Well, that is not including either of the RSC18 projects I am working on. Not too terrible!

Tomorrow I am off to see my kids in Vermont.  Probably no blog posts until I get back – unless I change my mind.  😉 I am so excited to see my grand daughter.  She started walking last week and it will be so fun to watch her toddling around.  Like I mentioned in my last post, any Etsy orders placed by 3:00 Friday (today) will ship.  If placed after that, they will ship on Monday, April 2nd.  The last time I was gone like this, I promised to refund half of the shipping charge for orders placed in my absence – sort of a thank you for being patient and waiting until the 2nd for shipment.  Same goes with this trip!  Place the order and just know I will pay half of your shipping cost.  Thanks so much for understanding!. It is a bit difficult to be a grammy to a little girl in Vermont when you live in California!

Linking to Finish It Up Friday and a few others.  All are listed at the top of the page, under Link Ups.