I am doing a happy dance over this quilt! This will be my last official finish for 2016. Technically, I had only hoped to have this one pieced by the end of the year, but somehow managed to pull off a full complete finish.
Late in the summer, Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts contacted me and asked if I would have time to look over a pattern that she had just put the finishing touches on. I gladly said yes. This quilt spoke to me the moment I saw it. I had what Sandra calls a DrEAMi moment. Only I didn't drop everything and make it immediately. I waited until Lorna announced her quilt along in the fall. I wanted to turn this into a "West Virginia" quilt. My vision was to do the bear paw blocks in our state colors of blue and gold with a black bear, our state animal.
It took a bit of fabric planning, trying to figure out how much of what I needed and how they translated into the pattern.
I opted to make the baby quilt size and decided to add borders to make it slightly bigger. Let me tell you, this was a whole lot of small HST's. My little head was spinning. With all the other projects I had going on, I decided to work them as a leader/ender project. This was a great idea. It allowed me to constantly be working on the quilt, but also finish other things as well.
This tote stayed by my machine at all times and I kept everything straight by using sandwich bags to organize. Each bag held a certain number of blocks.
Before I knew it I had all those bear paw blocks together and the first half of the quilt complete.
For the actual bear blocks and sashing, I had to slow down and devote my full attention to this quilt. Slowly this little black bear was coming out of hiding.
My thread of choice was Aurifil #2610 Light Blue Grey. I wanted something that would play well all over the quilt. If I chose the wrong color, I knew it would stick out like a sore thumb on the white and black fabrics. This particular shade of grey blended in nicely with both fabrics without drawing attention away from the over all quilt. What's that saying never poke a sleeping bear? I'm guessing that applies to the awake bears too.
My backing was a lovely shade of blue I picked up a LQS and my binding was blue with a yellow flange. Everything came together so smoothly.
The only thing left to do, was take my bear outside and let him trek through the yard a bit. Man it was cold out there.
This quilt makes me smile. I had a vision in my head and I'm pleased to say, I transformed it into fabric, just like I dreamed about. A huge thank you to Lorna for hosting this quilt along and writing such a wonderful pattern. You can find more information about the quilt along here and see other finished quilts from the quilt along here. If you have a chance, hop by and check out Lorna's patterns in her etsy store. From jungle critters to silly hamsters, she has something for everyone over there.
I'm not exactly sure what the fate of this little quilt will be. When I made it I didn't have a particular home for it in mind. This was one of those "I just have to do it" moments. Next Wednesday I will post about how Tish vs The 4th Quarter List turned out. We fought 14 rounds, but I think it's pretty safe to say, I'm the winner.
I hope all of you have a wonderful New Years! I will be kicking back with a glass of wine and piecing a few more quilts. I look forward to all the wonderful and exciting things all of us do next year. 2017 is a blank slate and I think together all of us will create beautiful things and make the world just a little bit warmer one stitch at a time.
Today I'm linking up with MOD Bear Paw.