Love

I've been meaning to blog about my Love quilt for some time.  I actually finished it in 2009. 

Do you ever wonder why there are some quilts that you start that you feel compelled to finish immediately?  This was one of those quilts for me. 

Way back in October I saw this post on Red Pepper Quilts and almost immediately had to buy myself a fat quarter pack of Love (I'm such a follower!).  After I received it, I had to make something with it right away.  With Red Pepper Quilts obviously still on my mind, I decided to make a version of this quilt.  It seemed like a match made in heaven - fat quarters, that quilt!  I figured out that with the fat quarters I could cut a 2 1/2 inch strip off the top of the fat quarter - so it would be 2 1/2" by 18" - then cut that strip into fours making pieces 2 1/2" by 4 1/2".  I would then have one "block."  Easy Peasy, right?

Wrong.  Unfortunately, the fat quarters were not accurate fat quarters.  Some (I would say 3/4) were off by a 1/4" to a 1/2".  That's not a lot - and I agree.  However, if you are quilting that 1/4"  or 1/2" makes all the difference.  I didn't ask for more than my fat quarter - I just wanted my full fat quarter.  So, what should have been an extremely easy quilt to make, became a huge pain in the ass.  Okay, so it was probably more of a pain because I was just so irritated.  Do you ever check to see that you've gotten full cuts of the fabric that you order?  Maybe I'm obsessive, but I do sometimes measure (not always).  I once ordered a bunch of 1/2 yard cuts from a highly advertised shop on etsy (who has their own website, too), and every. single. cut. was short.  Even though she has great fabric, I have refused to order from her again.   So now, I check.  If the cut is short, I must say, I don't order from them again.  I have gotten in contact with the some of them - but the resolution was not satisfactory, so I just don't order from them again.  Dang.  Sorry for that rant - moving on.

Even though the quilt was not as easy to cut as I would have liked, I did persevere and get it together.  I had some wonderful Valori Wells flannel that I put on the back.

Then I decided to use the wine spots for the binding because it matched the back so fabulously.  I got those wine spots from Kerri whose an incredible shop, and great customer service!

The one thing that I regret is that I didn't make it longer.  It's about 58" square.  I've never been a big fan of square quilts to use - unless they're really big - they just seem too awkward.  However, by the time I got to this point, I just wanted to be finished with it.  And that's what it is - finished!  The flannel on the back makes it nice and warm, too.

Penny asked me how much fabric I used.  I used all 26 fabrics in the Love line, and of the fat quarters that I had, I used up all but about 10" of the fat quarter. 

And, just to show that yes, I am working on other things, here's a tasty little pic of my (too small) design wall.