Rachel "Ivy" Clarke

All done! Kinda anticimactic after the previous update, where I guess people had assumed the whole thing was done. At that point I still had to do the binding, which I actually finished about 2 weeks ago, but wanted to wait until after I threw it in the laundry to take a photo, so I could show that nice crinkly effect. I used an 80/20 cotton/poly blend batting this time (I've only used 100% poly in the past) and I have to say I love it, and probably won't go back unless I have good reason.

Close up of the crinckles:

And here it is in its new home, on the back of my new couch:

I have to say, I really enjoyed the quilt-along, even if it did take me so much longer than many of the other folks. Choosing a color scheme from scratch was a little difficult for me, since a lot of times I make decisions based on using fabrics or scraps I already have and using them as a jumping-off point. To start with a tabula rasa and virtually no limitations seemed much more challenging to me. I learned some great stuff, like the freezer-paper trick and the knotless start (I've been using that on all my hand sewing projects since I read about it). I've also started pressing my quilting seams open, rather than to the side as is traditionally stipulated, and find that works better for me. I'm going to write a sonnet about my newfound love for basting spray. There were lots of great tips and Elizabeth's directions were clear and thorough. The only thing I thought might help would be a little bit of elaboration on how to make sure the horizontal lines in the pieced back line up with the front--mine came out crooked and I'm not sure why; I even went back to re-read the instructions and didn't find anything pertaining to that.

But all in all, it was a great experience and a well-written tutorial. I had a lot of fun not just making the quilt but also attempting to photograph and document the process along the way. It got me inspired about quilting again and led me to a < a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1120888@N21/">new quilt block swap, partially inspired and even got the ball rolling on some new quilt-art projects that I hope to write more about soon.