"Happiness"

Showing off this finish over at Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday :)

"Happiness" is the name I've given to this jelly roll quilt that I finished at 11pm last night :) and I've just been outside in the blowy spring wind to take some photos and I am feeling the happiness today!

In fact, I started feeling happy when I first touched this jelly roll (Me and My Sister - Good Morning) after it was posted to me from the very lovely and talented Carla over at Creatin' in the Sticks. I had won it in her giveaway and when it arrived on the 23rd February (with lots of other loveliness), I just knew I was going to make something special with it.

I have blogged quite a bit about making this quilt and it feels like I've been working on it for months but I actually only started cutting and sewing on the 13th March ... and, at that point, I had NO idea how much work it would entail! The pattern, 'Stormy Weather' is from this book by mother and daughter team, Pam and Nicky Lintott. It's very doable - I suppose I'd class myself as an 'intermediate' quilter (whatever that means) so it wasn't that it was particularly challenging but there are a lot of 4 1/2" units to cut and sew and a million seams to match up!

As soon as I made my first block, I just knew this was going to be a bright and happy quilt - perfect for the couple I was making it for! This is a wedding gift and they don't know I've made this for them ... Lisa (my perfect best friend - pbf) doesn't read my blog so it will still be a surprise when I hand this over ... I hope!

By 18th March, all the individual 4 1/2" units were cut and sewn together, waiting to become blocks:

And on Good Friday, I finally finished piecing the front and back ... yay! And on to the quilting. Now, here's where it got tricky :) I only FMQ as I can't do straight line quilting. Well, I can do straight lines but I get 'bunching' (when quilting squares) in the corners and 'folds' in the top material all the time even with a walking foot. Don't know why, so I only do straight lines on cushions and iPad Cases and just stick to what I'm good at used to on my quilts.

But this quilt was just asking for some straight lines so I went for it. I won't lie ... I didn't like it ... I felt the quilt was fighting me all the time and do you know how many knots I had to bury because all the stops and starts were 'inside' the quilt? 72! And it took me 2 hours :(

But that was Saturday. Yesterday, things went better. I tried love hearts and loopy links in the borders and, whilst not perfect, I think they turned out okay and very fitting for a wedding quilt, don't you think?

And them centre stars were looking just a bit 'empty' so I filled them with ... wait for it ... yes, you guessed: my tried and testing stippling and each star only took 3 minutes to quilt:

Yes, if I had just stippled all over, it would have still looked lovely and been finished in a fraction of the time but then it wouldn't have been as special and I wouldn't have learnt anything. I will persevere with the straight line quilting - I really like the mixture of pattern and texture it has given:

And the label? I had some 'spare' units left over for some reason I so sewed a couple together. I finished this on the 31st March but I wrote April 2013, to reflect the month my friends will get it:

And my favourite part ... the binding! I love love love ... seriously love doing binding - every bit of it - making all 280", machine sewing to the front and hand sewing on the back and how cute is the black and white spot :) 

So I'm happy about lots of things:

• Meeting my pbf 6 years ago, I am so thankful for our friendship
• And that she is marrying a wonderful man 
• And that we'll see them getting married next month ... in Sweden!!!
• 'Finding' Carla, who gives me so much support and laughs at my jokes
• And winning her giveaway
• Learning new skills 
• And conquering a demon (well, me and straight line quilting will never be pbfs!)
• Creating something so special in just a few weeks
• And having the luxury of a 4-day weekend at home, giving me time to quilt
• And for being 'good enough' at this brilliant hobby - OMG, how lucky am I??
• And for having the most wonderful husband who lets me disappear in the loft to sew for hours and hours, never grumbles and always takes an interest (and even helps me baste!)

Quilt Facts: "Happiness" for Lisa and Richard

Time from start to finish - 2 weeks, 4 days but most done in the last 3 days! 

Size - 70" x 55"

Fabric - Moda Good Morning Jelly Roll, Makower black and lilac spots, Makower Swirls (white) 

Backing - Moda Good Morning Jelly Roll - Floral Super Flower, Positively Purple and Makower lilac spots

Binding - folded 2 1/4" Makower black spot

 xx