Friday 22 July 2016

Sweet Pepper Jelly: A Finished Quilt

Way back in 2013 I subscribed to the Sugar Block Club with Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock. I was still relatively new to quilting and thought it would be a good skill builder. And it was! I used a blogger bundle of fabric from Rita of Red Pepper Quilts (at the time she was one of my favourite bloggers; as of late my taste has diverged significantly though I still admire her skill!) as well as a few prints from my own stash (that I might not even buy today!).

It was my first attempt at paper piecing (I believe four of twelve blocks require paper piecing) and I was not so great at it. And all my blocks ended up slightly different sizes ranging from 10.5" to 12". I saw no way out, at the time, to putting it together into a quilt top. And so it languished.

I would say it was my first ever true WIP, and I am not someone to let things go unfinished. It has been nagging at me for years to finish it. This was the summer!

I put away my reservations, embraced "Finished is better than perfect" and got to work.

And here is Sweet Pepper Jelly, a quilt with many imperfections (and that includes the quilting) but which is DONE and will now be our "out and about" quilt that stays in the car for picnics, chilly mornings or general quilt needs.


A sampler quilt, in an odd mix of fabrics, but DONE!

I did loopy swirls in all the borders and tried something different with each block, to varying degrees of success.

The back is this infamous IKEA print, picked up and stored for the last three years with this exact quilt in mind. It is much lighter weight than quilt shop quilting cotton but it sure packs some visual punch! This was my first scrappy binding, made in 2013 and not attached until mid-2016. I love how it works for this quilt.

You get a bit of a sense of the different quilting looking at the back like this.
It feels so good to have this quilt DONE. Only one more WIP sits languishing in my closet now...my Aviatrix Medallion which I am not prepared to tackle again right now!

4 comments:

  1. I love this quilt! I understand how it might be difficult to push yourself to finish something that doesn't seem to cooperate, but you did a fantastic job overcoming the issues. That backing fabric is one I've see a few times on other blogs and I love it. I'll be in big trouble if I find it. lol If someone finds me, they could probably talk me into buying a bolt! Beautiful quilt for your plans: everyone will get to see it in person!

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  2. visiting from crazy mum quilts. This is fantastic. Paper templates are great.

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  3. So glad you were able to finish. The backing is awesome.

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  4. It is always so satisfying to finally put a tick beside something from the UFO list isn't it? You have done a great job of your quilt - I love the way there is always something different to see on a sampler quilt.

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