Three Years to Finish a Quilt

I love bright colors and large prints. I have many in my collection of fabric scraps and was searching for a pattern that would use a variety of them and result in a quilt that was visually “orderly.” I stumbled on this idea in a quilt magazine and got right to work. That was three summers ago.

Now some quilters will start a project and move onto the next before finishing, but not me, I am usually a “finisher.” However, just as I was getting the last of the plates appliquéd onto the backgrounds I broke my arm. It was the upper bone in my arm, actually shattered into many pieces and impossible to cast. I wore a brace and could not quilt. We kept waiting for the bones to knit and though the little breaks did heal the large break refused and finally a year and a half later there was surgery to implant a plate and finally the bone was able to knit. As soon as I was able I finished the quilt top, and I liked it so much I decided to hand quilt it.
My hand quilting time is limited these days. Evenings are short as we usually follow the kids to bed. I do find it very relaxing though and though I am not a skilled quilter, I enjoy doing it. Finally this week I finished, put the binding on the quilt and added the label. It is now ready to be entered in the quilt show this summer.
I made some small projects during the three years, wedding, baby and graduation gifts, Christmas gifts, and quilts for foster children, but none required hand quilting. It is so good to have full use of my arm again.