Swoon!

It's finished!

The pattern is Swoon by Camille Roskelley and I knew when I saw the large stars that it would be perfect for Jane. I wanted something young and fresh that would stand the test of time and I think this quilt fits the bill.

And I don't think the photos do it justice. Jane helped me pick the fabric combinations keeping in our palette of aqua, pink and green. The prints are all from my stash and the white is Kona Snow. The value of a few of the fabrics is a bit on the light side, especially when you look at from afar. Up close, though, it totally works.

(Excuse the messy bedroom! That girl loves her books.)

I followed the pattern except that I made the sashing strips 1.5" wider than called for so it would fit Jane's full sized bed. Doing this allowed me to gain a total of 6" in either direction. The finished quilt is 86" x 86" instead of a 80" x 80". And if I didn't tell you, I don't know that you would see a difference. It is still very much in scale.

The back is made from a pink solid and some pieced strips from my stash. I really would have loved the back to be just the pink, but I was short and didn't want to spend any more money so adding prints was the logical solution. It works. The polka dot on the binding is a Japanese fabric that I picked up at Purl almost two years ago. I love, love, love this dot and used the last bits I had on this quilt.

For the quilting, I used my walking foot to stitch lines 1/2" apart. I started 1/4" from one piecing seam line and sewed from there. This allowed me to avoid the bulky points made by all those triangles and gave me a good guide to follow while quilting. Not all of the lines are perfectly straight and I am so good with that. It's nearly impossible to achieve and really, up close and in the moment I do notice those kinds of things, but now that the quilt's been washed it doesn't jump out at me one bit. Win, win!

I started this in July and finished it at the very end of September. It was really the only thing I worked on sewing-wise over the last few months and it feels SO DAMN GOOD to start something and finish it. I feel a crafting energy that has been missing for a long while. Dare I say that my mojo is back? I don't want to put the whammy on it, or anything, but it sure would be nice to take this motivation, desire and inspiration and see what comes of it. Heck, if it could just get me through this weekend in New York, I'd be excited.

Oh, I should add that Jane loves her new quilt. She's happy to get in bed and cuddle up every night. I just wish it was as easy to get her out from under it in the morning....