a graduation quilt

There's a stack of quilt tops and blocks in my studio that I'm slowly plowing through. I finished this one at the beginning of May right before I left for Lindsay's graduation. Well, finished except for handsewing down the binding. I nearly machine stitched it on so I could bring it with me and give it to her when I was there, but I didn't. She is in the middle of such a huge transition that I figured that she didn't need another thing to pack as she moves to a new apartment. Plus, it's not like she needs a quilt during the summer in LA. Lastly, I wanted to bind it properly and that just wasn't happening in the 15 hours that remained before getting in the car. So, it stayed home and waited patiently for me to pull it back out and finish that binding. 

When we go to the beach in June, I pack a few projects - one knitting, one crochet, one handstitching. I also had a sewing machine down there *just in case* I needed it (which I did). I have gotten much better about not bringing too much now that the beach is closer to home, which means that I've also gotten better at working on most of what I bring. This quilt was packed into the bin and it sat there for over a week while I sewed baby bibs for some friends and knit 1/3 of a sweater and crocheted a bunch of granny squares. Near the end of the trip, I pulled it out and started stitching down that binding. 

I know a lot of people who love the hand stitching down of binding. I am not one of them. I have probably mentioned this before. For me, it's a real labor of love. With each stitch, I thought about my girl and about her life that lies in front of her. In those stitches, I put my hopes and my love. I see her snuggled up under it with her love, or someday (in many years) her babies. I hope it sees her through many years of laughter and love and happiness and that it helps comfort her through the bad times. All those thoughts carry me through to the last stitch. I put it in the wash and the dryer, and I was amazed yet again at how beautifully it all comes together even though it's not perfect. Just like life. 

Quilt details:

Inspired by the Moda Positively Perfect quilt but heavily modified. I made my blocks (and the quilt) much bigger and I kept to a symmetrical order. The finished size is 75x75". She wanted it nice and big.

All of the fabric came from stash. The backing is primarily what remains of a Merimekko duvet cover that I found at the Crate & Barrel outlet for $10. Love it. 

The quilting is in a big X pattern that is a counterpoint to the square patterning and accentuates the fabric placement. I could have done a better job of lining up the squares on the quilt back, but that skill eludes me. 

I quilted it on my new sewing machine, which was lovely. Having a larger throat space and built in dual feed made all the difference on a quilt this big. 

As a side note, I think it's time to move on to a new color palette after the last two quilts, much as I love this one. I think I'll play with some pink and green. 

I hope she loves it. I sure do.

Comments

[beki]

it's gorgeous sarah! i'm sure it will be cherished for years to come :)

[Heather]

Gorgeous as always

[pam]

beautifully done!

[laura]

it is SPECTACULAR. i love it.

(and i'm totally gonna use your design.. eventually.)

[Amber from Berlinswhimsy]

Beautiful!

[jane]

It's perfect Sarah! She will love it, I'm sure!

[Kathy]

I love it! And it *is* perfectly imperfect!

[larissa]

I do not enjoy hand stitching the binding down one bit either. Love the colors and how you chose to make each block it's own color accented by the yellow - just left a comment on beki's post about color blocking and how much I am loving it. I'm going to try to work with color blocks a bit and see what I come up with. Your girl will LOVE this - a quilt made with love truly does make the best gift ever!