I can't promise that this will be my last post about this behemoth, but it is my attempt to tie it all together.
I finally sent this off to NYC earlier today. Phew! Even those of you who may have been keeping abreast of the journey probably don't remember when I first started working on this. I'd say I started the design process some time in March of last year (2013), the first mention of it, veiled as it was, was in this post from last April. And though I got it back from the quilter in late November, the finishing details got dragged out for another month plus so I can't claim the finish until this new year. And let me tell you, this is FAR from being the most dragged out project. Just one of the more dragged out that I actually was working on consistently throughout the whole period of time.
But what a project to sit atop the list for 2014!! I do have to say I'm rather proud of it. The inspiration for the overall design was a combination of two different quilts I've done in the past:
Made in 2011 in response to a design challenge presented by The Modern Quilt Guild
Made in 2009 or 2010. One of my all-time favorites, which now belongs to my almost sorta-mother-in-law-in-law.
The request was to design something close to the monochromatic color wash but with deeper pockets of jewel tones. At least that's how I remember it and how I ended up interpreting the final design. I've gone into much detail about my design and process while constructing this quilt, so I won't repeat myself too much, but if you're interested in checking some of the older posts you can find them at these links: 5/12/13, 6/4/13, and 9/16/13.
That September post shows the finished quilt top before it was left with the oh-so-talented local long arm quilter Nancy Stovall, Just Quilting PDX. And let me tell you, she did a phenomenal job! I am not sure how we managed to choose the ONLY quilting design I could imagine working as well as this one does. I went into her studio with next to no idea how the quilt should be quilted, we bounced a couple of ideas off of one another, looked at some of the designs on her computer and somehow worked out this beautiful, large-scale wave.
Something about those gentle undulating waves manages to encompass the fluidity of the color wash while leaving the geometric elements intact and without tensions. That says quilting success to me!
My friend Cherie was generous enough to allow me to use her washer and dryer for this 104" square quilt, and on top of that, she and her MIL held it over the stairwell banister so I could get my first full photo of it outside of the sterile environment of my studio. Too bad I didn't really know how to use the fancy digital camera I borrowed from J. Please excuse the poor out-of-focus photos!
AND I got to see it spread on a bed... my house can't provide a big enough bed in a big enough room to test this one out.
One thing I have not yet addressed is the special binding on the quilt. You may have noticed that the inspiration quilt for this has serrated edges due to the diamond construction, and this quilt top also had serrated edges that ultimately got trimmed after it was quilted. However the perfectionist in me who hides deep in my unconscious reared up and instructed me to match the color/value of the binding all the way around the perimeter. Yikes.
And just a few more photos of me hanging the final product in the studio so that J could take some proper portfolio photos...
I guess I can no longer claim to have a pet-free studio... it's a small sacrifice to make, let me tell you!
And the final touch:
