Finished!

I put the last stitches into the border of Harriet's Journey on Monday, and it felt so good.  It's not a huge quilt, but the components took quite a bit of time.  I've been making 8 or so blocks a month since January, using Moda's "Moody Bloom" fabric with a few coordinating scraps here and there.   You can barely see the outer border, which is the dark, colorful print in that line that caught my eye first.  I started with a fat quarter bundle but added more along the way.

Each 6" block is a quilt in itself.  As is typical of Jennifer Chiaverini's patterns, the blocks are a mix of pieced, paper pieced, and applique.  That drunkard's path appeared pieced in her book, but I sewed it by hand because the pieces were so tiny.

I substituted a few blocks, like that courthouse steps block, when the suggested blocks of the month seemed too complicated.  The substitutions came from previous Chiaverini books as well as The Splendid Sampler, by Pat Sloan.  

I found some of the easiest looking blocks, like that pink and dark "wheel," were the hardest.  I really enjoyed making the interlocking chain block.  

I made the alternating setting blocks out of leftover scraps, thinking that would allow the individual blocks to stand out more than they would with the conventional sashing with cornerstones setting.  That means there are 121 blocks in this top, which only measures 78" x 78".  I plan to take it to my friend Marie who will do the longarm quilting, but I'm not sure when I'll get over to see her.  I'll need to buy some backing and batting also.

As usual, I took a day off from sewing yesterday.  I always need to take a mental break after finishing something this intense.   I still need to clean up the scraps and put everything away.  But I'm reading Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny's new book, State of Terror, and it's really getting good.  I'm not sure how much time I'll devote to quilting today.