Steadily quilting... a preview

Last week I sandwiched and quilted two sections of a red and white quilt made mostly with swap blocks. This week I worked on the last section. I always enjoy quilting in sections because I can do

free motion, stitch-in-the-ditch, and outline quilting a bit easier.  On a sampler, I can mix it all up.

 

My first quilt, started in 1974 and finished in 1985 (yes!), was red and white.  Since I started before rotary cutters, I made cardboard templates, traced around them, and cut the pieces out with scissors.  42 blocks got really boring, so I set the quilt aside many times.   I hand quilted the whole thing, which added another year.  I used a polyester blend fabric and polyester batting.  And I still have it.  I sometimes put it on in summer because it's light. 

This morning, I sewed the last section on and did a plain white border around two sizes (the top and bottom were already done.  Phew!  I don't have binding cut yet since I wasn't sure what I wanted.  I have lots of red fabrics and may just do a scrappy one.  I had initially thought a red with mini dots would be nice, but I haven't seen any in the stores.  Probably I'll see some after I finish!

This quilt was inspired by the "Infinite Variety" quilt show in New York last year, and some of the blocks were part of the Just Takes 2 project organized in part by Brenda Papdakis, "mother" of Dear Jane. I made a few of the blocks that are posted twice a month for this quilt, but also made some out of blue and white which will be my next quilt to put together.