After Two and a Half Years...

I have finally finished my 'Daisy' quilt - otherwise known as the Hertfordshire Quilt, pattern by Carolyn Konig.  The pattern is inspired by the Billings Coverlet in the UK Quilter's Guild collection.

About three quarters of the quilt was hand pieced.  Parts of it are well-travelled, as little baggies of cut shapes, needle, thread and scissors travelled with me on every holiday.

I made some changes to the outer border.  The original had 2200 small honeycombs to be English paper pieced.  I used my Sizzix to cut the honeycombs.  They are larger than the original pattern.  I English paper pieced each motif and then appliqued it to the border background.  This reduced the number of honeycombs to about 600.

I machine quilted in the ditch over nearly every seam in the quilt.  None of those hand stitched seams are going to fall apart.  I did some stipple in the outer and one other border.  With a quilt this busy, fancy FMQ is a waste of time, as it wouldn't be seen.

I had an awful time trying to photograph the quilt.  It is 101 inches square.  In the end I moved the dog's bed out of the kitchen (much to her concern), stood on some steps and managed to get most of the quilt into the photo.

I also pieced the back.  I had a palampore in my stash that I used in the centre.  I didn't want to cut it up, so was happy to use it on the back of this one.

I have always loved Roman mosaics and am working on a small piece using tiny pieces of Northcott Stonehenge fabrics.  This involves fusing the pieces onto a fabric backing, then covering with tulle and securing it all with free motion.  I am presently working on a braid mosaic border.  This is a test piece and I hope to make some larger pieces using photos I took on a recent trip to Italy...if all goes well.

Happy quilting! x