This should finish as an 84" square quilt. Setting the blocks was a pretty straightforward process once I had the sashing strips built and distributed as evenly as I could manage. The bigger challenge has been building a back for this beast. It needed to be a minimum of 90" square. The easy way out would have been to purchase extra wide fabric specifically made to be quilt backs. I have too much yardage in The Nest at the moment to get away with that however. ;- )
In spite of the fact that I have a lot of yardage, not much of that is extensive yardage of any given print. So no matter what I had to piece things together to get that 90" square. Since these blocks were made by new friends from around the world I decided begin with prints that have been given to me by other friends over the last few years.
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| Do you recognize this Julie? |
Then I needed a narrower strip to get the necessary length. That strip ended up being composed of three different prints but I only have two in a photo to show you.
Technically all those women on the left are gardeners but they've been waiting patiently in my stash to be included in a project for many, many years. I figure they are a pretty good representation of the variety of ladies who made blocks in the F2F swap. The purple text print is one my sister just sent to me in that heavy box for my upcoming birthday.
It makes me happy to have the back of my quilt be as meaningful as the front. What makes me happier is that it turned out bigger than it really needed to be and is done. I declare, it's been a bigger challenge to build this back than it was to create the top! I will be avoiding projects of this size in the immediate future.
On a more technical note, I've downloaded and tried a couple of the photo editing programs y'all recommended. At the moment I'm using Pixlr. I like it pretty well. I think it's time to come up with a better system for managing the photo files while I'm at it. They've gotten a bit out of hand from my never having learned exactly how best to handle files and folders in a computer.
It looks great! I look forward to seeing your backing, too. Looks as if it will be as colorful as the front. Reversible!
ReplyDeleteGreat work with the flimsy, and I love your backing solution, especially the gardening women.
ReplyDeleteOh my word! It's a big quilt... And I love the way you've grouped the colours with a rainbow cluster in the centre.n I think everyone in F2F is going to be searching for 'their' blocks – it was the first thing I did after I admired the general effect. The backing is simply a joyful piece of work, and will be as worthy of admiration as the front when it's done. Look forward to seeing that. Nice work, ma'am!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the back, too. I think you've found perfect solutions to both the back and the front! What a gorgeous quilt this is!
ReplyDeleteWill your son quilt it for you, or do you have plans for doing it yourself?
I miss Picasa - it was so much easier to organize my photos...
I love the top. I remain amazed that what we sent you groups so evenly, as if the overall scheme were planned ahead.
ReplyDeleteI, like you, should use stash and piece backs. Unlike you, I keep buying backing.
Oh, yes -- I do remember a couple of those backing fabrics. I love scrappy backs (but not quite as large as the one you're building).
ReplyDeletecan't wait to see this quilted
ReplyDeleteIt's looking great Sue - love the way you have grouped the colours.
ReplyDeleteI also found the back as challenging as the front but only because I made an error with my design first of all and also because I didn't make all of the front ;) I am just a little bit pleased that the next round has only 9 participants - it will be a doddle after the monster 36 block one.
This quilt is gorgeous. The fabrics for the backing will make this quilt extra special.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great setting!!
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