My Heirloom Quilt

I think it's safe to say, of all my creative endeavours so far, I think I would vote this one 'least likely to ever be made'!  Not so much because it's a quilt, I have made quilts before, more because it's a hand stitched Liberty fabric quilt.

If you had asked me before this project came on the horizon, I would have said I couldn't afford a quilt made from Liberty fabrics.  I also would have said I sure as heck don't have the patience to stitch an entire quilt by hand.  In fact, even saying these words now I can't quite believe I managed it.  But I did!

It's actually my sister's fault that this came about at all.  She mentioned that she'd started a 'subscription quilt', which she explained was run by Alice Caroline and consisted of signing up to a 12 month project.  Each month a payment was taken and each month a gorgeous box of goodies would arrive with everything needed to make a small portion of the quilt.  Hey presto, at the end of the year you have a completed, stunning quilt!  Well that's the theory at least.

It appealed to me for a few reasons.  I had been hankering for a English Paper Piecing (EPP) project for a start and spreading the cost made it a much more affordable and attractive proposition.  I also really liked the idea of breaking the quilt making down into more manageable chunks, especially as hand sewing was on the cards.  She mentioned this to me in February and luckily there were a few spots left, so I signed up and got my first two boxes soon after.

It actually took me two years to make this quilt, rather than one, but I'm pleased with that.  The first year was all about constructing the hexagon blocks each month and keeping up with that.  There were times when I fell behind and then I would have a little blitz to catch up again.  Of course that was just the individual blocks.  After that they still had to be joined together, sandwiched, quilted and the whole thing bound - so that was the task for the second year.

Originally I thought the hand sewing would be limited to the blocks themselves, but let's blame my sister again, because it was she who mentioned she was thinking of hand quilting hers.  My initial reaction was that she was crazy, but the seed had been planted and the idea grew.  By the time the quilt top was made I'd convinced myself that after getting this far with hand sewing, it would be a shame to bring out the machine now!

So I took my first foray into hand quilting.  Well, that's not strictly true, I have hand quilted quite a few smaller items before, but nothing on this scale and it was very daunting.  Like any self-respecting crafter in the modern age, I immediately started searching You Tube for the best way to begin and after plucking up my courage, I started.  I can't say I've done the best job in the world, but it's not too bad, and I did get better as I went along.  I am very pleased I went for it though and I love being able to say I've hand stitched this entire thing from start to finish!

The only thing missing now is a quilt label.  All my other quilts have one and this one deserves it just as much, if not more!  So in this third year, that must be my task.  Not only do I want to remember the date I made it, but of all my quilts, I want the whole world to know it was me who made this one.  For this, if any, is surely my true heirloom piece!

S x

♥

#CherryHeart

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