With a new year comes the promise of fresh starts...and hopefully, for me, several finishes! I've decided to jump on board with the wonderful group of quilters participating in A Lovely Year of Finishes as it fits right into what I've set before myself to accomplish. When I look around my sewing room I don't want to see so many unfinished projects...and so much fabric just sitting there. I just don't think these things lend themselves to being a good steward of the things I've been blessed with.
A Lovely Year of Finishes encourages a goal be set to finish at least one project each month. At this point in time I have enough unfinished projects that I don't need to begin anything new in order to come up with 12 finishes for the year. My January goal is to complete the September Faith Circle quilt for do. Good Stitches. (I wrote about this row quilt in my previous post.)
Often, by the time it comes to the quilt back am ready to just be finished with the quilt and begin something new. While I do love a scrappy back I challenged myself to come up with a design that would allow me to use fabric I already had in my stash. I started by doing a search in the flickr Quilt Backs group to find some inspiration. I found several pictures where the quilter had created a plaid design with fabric and I really liked the look. Next I got out my sketch notebook and worked out a plan:
Working out the measurements is not a strong area for me and I was a bit nervous I would get the back finished only to discover I'd made a mistake. I'm happy to report that I got all of the dimensions correct and now have a completed quilt back made entirely of stash fabric!
I'm so excited to have actually planned out and completed my own quilt back! Whenever people talk to me about things that I've made I am quick to point out that most of the time I am just following a pattern and it is the designer of that pattern who is truly the talented one. I'd love to be a designer one day...maybe with this quilt back I can now say I am :o)
I'd love to hear about something you've designed!
I love the back! It's so fun! Designing just comes one step at a time. When I first started working in a quilt shop years ago, a customer came in and asked me to calculate how much fabric she would need to make a particular quilt... no pattern. I just looked at her in disbelief. It would have taken me hours to figure it out. While I'm still not quick, I am quicker... :) And it's not as overwhelming as it used to be. So I guess the old adage, "practice makes perfect" has some truth to it.
ReplyDeleteYou are! GOOD job on the back! I know they take extra time, but it'll be a special part of our quilt!
ReplyDeleteI'm totally on board with this idea! I cannot say, in all honesty, that I won't buy new fabrics or start new projects, but I love the idea of the finish pledge - 1 per month is doable. Thanks for the great post and great idea!
ReplyDelete-Lettb
I love a pieced back, and that looks fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably buy new fabrics this year because I hardly bought any last year. I don't need any, but I'm sure I'll find something I just have to have.
I love this beautiful backing, Deb! I'm planning to do more pieced backs in order to use from my stash and use the leftovers from the quilt top. I tend to design most of my quilts, or if I start with a pattern I usually tweak it to put my personal stamp on it.
ReplyDeleteLove this plaid (&stash!) design
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