The Bloggers Quilt Festival is being hosted by Amy's Creative Side (click on the button above if you want to be transported there ala Star Trek) this week. If you're one of my regular awesome blog readers you'll know every quilt I make comes with a story that usually involves triumph over tragedy. There's usually pathos and comedy and some swearing chucked in as well. This quilt story is my own personal version of The Pursuit of Happiness.
Sometimes there's nothing like bringing a quilt finish down to the wire.Clearly I thrive on tight deadlines and a good dose of stress. Bloggers Quilt Festival started yesterday and I finished this quilt at 5.00 pm Central Australian Time today. A year in the making - it's finally finished...albeit without a label. What's even cooler is that for most participants it isn't even 5.00pm Saturday yet so many of you are reading a post about a quilt that doesn't actually exist in your parallel universe and has yet to be finished in your future. ...Yep I'm messing with your mind.
I started this quilt as part of a Snowball quiltalong last May . The QAL fizzled out after a few posts and in August my resolve fizzled after all the blocks were cut and sewn. I sent the quilt to the naughty corner (which is actually a deep dark cupboard in my sewing room ) and ignored it. It had plenty of company. It sat lonely and forgotten for the next 8 months. I'm good at ignoring stuff I don't want to deal with. I'm a mother.
Somewhere along the way I convinced myself the quilt was possessed and that I didn't like it. That meant I felt Ok about ignoring it because after all who wants to touch something that's possessed by Quilting Goblins. Eventually I sucked it up and stuck it on my PhD list and vowed to finish it by June 30th. Miss P spied the forlorn quilt bits in March and fell in love with the fabrics and I finally had a reason to finish it because constant nagging really makes my head ache.
The next phase was not without incident . I swore and hated this quilt some more when I realised I didn't have enough matching backing by a mere 10 inches. Quilter's stashitis saved my arse. I knew having a sewing room with 3456 yards of fabric would come in handy at some point.
With the top finished I still wasn't convinced that this quilt could ever be gorgeous (or in my ability to make it look pretty given my rudimentary quilting skills- FM quilting and I have yet to develop a warm and cordial relationship ) So off to the quilter this quilt was sent. In music and theatre circles it isn't over till the fat lady sings. With quilts- it's never over until the quilting and binding are done. That's when the magic happens.
It arrived home this afternoon and I love it. I finished the binding and I present to you "Snowballs in Hell" , because that's about as much chance as this quilt had of being finished a year ago.
My only regret is that this quilt is promised to Miss P - who is now pressing her luck by insisting I also make her jam donuts. Maybe we can organise a trade- donuts for the quilt? I mean after all I gave birth to her - what more does she want?
35 comments:
Well what a turnaround.. what's Not to Love it's Beautiful...
Glad you rescued it from the Goblins...
well done!!
cheers
Cool! I'm with you on the FM quilting --- it's just less stressful to send it out....Miss P can wait another year -- enjoy it first.
M
Beautiful quilt! I love the pink butterfly fabric in the borders and on the back. I hope Miss P realizes what a great Mum she's got.
OK if the quilt doesn't exist in my time yet, then Blogs are a form of time travel? Which would mean that you can communicate faster than the speed of light. I may have to bump that one to Mr. Physics and see what he has to say.
I love your quilt stories. Though living at your house must be getting a bit crowded. Last week you were talking about the mojo stealing Gremlins that had moved in, this week it's the Quilting Goblins that have possess your UFOs. Or have both groups been banished by your amazing productivity and the sounds of your sewing machine?
What a perfectly lovely quilt! I'm glad you released it from time out to be sent away and quilted. The things we do for our kids, eh? I love the "chocolate" snowballs especially. (I think heaven should include chocolate snowballs, don't you? Though they might mess up all the white stuff as they melt...)
Well what a great little quilt afterall and the perfect name! See? even the Goblins know to run scared when you get determined. Good for you.
Now, a criticism b/c you know I have to criticize... I cannot believe you just asked that all important question mothers everywhere learn NEVER TO UTTER. Don't ever, ever, EVER ask what more they want because then they tell you! geez...
YAY! Good to finally see the snowball quilt! It's lovely!!!
LOL- oh this sounds and feels all too familiar!
The quilts in my naughty corner are waving to yours! :)
I hope that you will realize what a gorgeous quilt you have made: Well done! Ms P is not only incredibly smart, but a very lucky girl indeed. ( my boys are almost 5 and still have no quilts of their own... yikes!)
So nice to meet you! V from Cyprus
I cannot believe that anyone can get a quilt bound that quick - you are amazing! Your work is great, no more beating yourself up. Hugs, "The Quilter"
Wow! It turned out great! I can see why you love it!
It is lovely Shay! Good on you for another finish! 8-)
That one is beautiful, congratulations on a great finish! I'm one of those deadline people too, not sure why, but I always work so much better under time constraints. But at the last minute, I hate that feeling of stress.
Wow, if you really have 3456yrds of fabric, you'll be busy all winter! =) I like how you improvised on the backing, looks very nice; I just finished quilting a bedquilt that I had to do the same. Gives it more personality, great job!
I am wowed! I LOVE it! And I'm so glad you do too! I love the butterflies in the quilting and the colors are just awesome! Congrats on a really great finish! That quilt is absolutely beautiful.
xo -E
I LOVE snowball quilts and yours turned out great! Sorry to be such a bad-blogger friend lately, but I still have been reading your posts - love them all! Great pics of the fam too!
Well I´ve always liked it, but I never in my wildest dreams expected such a beauty to come out of it!!! You did magic to that quilt Mrs Wondrwoman :-)
Whoo hoo! This is definitely a triumph over your inner quilting naysayer! Love the border and backing fabric with the butterflies, just gorgeous. How could you ever have hated this quilt? Miss P is one lucky offspring.
I love reading your posts Shay, you crack me up! The Snowballs from hell is Gorgeous! Such pretty colours, Glad Miss P got you to finish it! x
This is an awesonme quilt mate, Lucky you did the exorcisim!
Shay, it turned out beautiful. I love it! I'm so happy you finished yours. I still only have 8 blocks completed. I'm such a slacker.
LOL... I love the naughty corner for quilts...hang on that would be most of my sewing room at the moment.It has evolved and morphed into a beautiful quilt. Congrats!
LOL, ROTFL! How could such a pretty, innocent looking quilt cause all that angst."Snowballs from Hell" is gorgeous :)
Well done Shay!!! Nothing like stepping outside your comfort zone. I thought that one had long been forgotten and had disappeared into the back of the cupboard but NO you ousted it and isn't it a beauty!
Love the name, very apt and the backing is perfect for the gorgeous front. Can you do a photo with a close up of the quilting please, I'm curious to see?
Hooray to Miss P for getting you back into the groove with that quilt so to speak :-)
SO PRETTY! Lucky Miss P.
Okay, I hadn't even scrolled down to see the quilt when I clicked "follow." You crack me up! You seem like my kind of girl ;)
When I finally made it down to the actual quilt pictures, I loved them....just so you know! I like me a good snowball quilt, and the back looks like it was planned to be that way. I think you can certainly distract Miss P with the jelly donuts while you make off with the quilt!
Bravo Shay! The quilt is beautiful. You are inspirational to myriads of quilters with a corner for disliked quilts. I am desperately trying to finish a gift quilt for my daughter's god daughter. The shop ran out of the thread and no quilt shop within 3 hours of me has any - #@%^#&W%*&@().
Since the free motion quilting is half done, I can't switch to another Sulky blendable because a similar colour doesn't exist. The gremlins are nipping at my ankles. Hopefully our local shop will find some for me.
Miss P is a lucky lassie - but she already knows that!
Helen (Nanci's P.T.)
I remember when you started this quilt. I came out really pretty. The colors are so pretty and soft. I was never fond of snowball, but your quilt has changed my mind!
The quilt is beautiful-- and when Miss P sees it, she'll be thinking of you...and jam doughnuts. One of our friends was visiting LA from Adelaide last week, and in honor of the "pie floaters" we had in Adelaide (you can make assumptions how much alcohol was involved) we made donut floaters-- we tried floating them in hot chocolate and in hot fudge. Depending on the donut, either one will do. Not good for a hangover, but for dinner when no one's home...
Very nice~I really like the back too!
Oh you must have been "hexed". Cute quilt with a cute story as usual. I've had blogger trouble and not been able to post.
It's a winner in my books as I do love butterfly fabrics!
Oh, our quilt stories are very much the same! I love the whole "parallel universe" concept! Too funny! It's a beautiful quilt!
Snowballs in Hell! Excellent name. You would never know it's history from looking at it.
A perfect girly quilt. I love the backing and border fabric, but I love butterflies anyway. Great quilt.
You have excelled yourself Shay, this quilt is absolutely gorgeous. Im wondering whether I can change my name to Miss P and you will accidentally send it to me.
The quilting details are perfect. I'm so glad you persevered with this quilt as it really is fabulous.
I love the pieced backing too.
You are coming up with some brilliant names for your quilts, Snowballs From Hell, I can definitely understand why you chose that!
I am so pleased you saw it through to the end. It looks great and sounds like someone is ready to love it!
This is a great quilt! I love all the colors in it. And thank you for doing your part for our American economy by buying all your fabric! God knows we need all the help we can get! LOL I truly enjoyed your blog. I even signed up to follow. I am drinking my morning coffee and about spit it out a few times laughing. YOU GO GIRL!!
Nice quilt and great story. I have several of those wip's I'm needing to do but just intimidated by! Love snowballs. Name is funny. Thanks for sharing and have a great day
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