Bound and Finished - One Monthly Goal for July

I'm so pleased to have this quilt finished to meet my One Monthly Goal for July.  I finished the quilting a few days before my husband went to the emergency room on July 12 (then stayed at the hospital for the next two weeks awaiting open heart surgery).

This is the quilt that was too long, the topic of a discussion about proportions, sizes, symmetry, etc.  That first night my husband was at the hospital and I was home alone I made the drastic decision to cut 8" off one end.  That night I also cut and sewed binding strips together, then stitched them to the quilt so I would have hand work while sitting with him at the hospital.

This quilt and I had an interesting experience at the hospital.  One of the PSAs (Patient Support Assistants) asked what I was working on.  When I told her I was stitching the binding on a quilt she told me that she was a quilter and did all her work by hand.  She wanted to know how long I'd been working on the quilt and whether I'd stitched the blocks by hand or machine.  The next day she asked me whether or not I was going to show her the quilt.  I'm happy to share my quilts online because there is that element of separation created by a computer monitor and some distance between me and viewers -- I don't see whether the viewer has an adverse reaction to the quilt -- but I'm not one to show off my quilts in person.  Even so, I opened the quilt for her to see.  She immediately looked closely at my hand quilting and evaluated it but she barely looked at the quilt and made no comment about it at all.  I was a little surprised.  When I see a quilt in person my first observation is never of the stitching.

The photo above shows only part of the quilt: the top is folded over the fence.

I began making the blocks for this quilt in August, 2013.  It was a slow evolution to decide whether each block should have sashing and if so, how it should look.  Then I decided on the center white stars and played with sizes and colors for sashing, then did the same for sashing between blocks.   Little by little, all the decisions were made.  Perhaps the best (or worst) decision was to omit a border around the edges:  I had to redraft those half-blocks along the sides so they would have straight grain along the edges.  I finished the top in November, 2015, quickly layered and basted it, and immediately started quilting it.

I used Soft & Crafty 80% cotton / 20% polyester batting.  It quilts easily and washes well.  I have used it before but this time it seems slightly less thick than in previous quilts.  Still, I love how it crinkles and makes the fabrics puff up.  The quilting is not dense.  I think the places for pockets of air are part of what makes a quilt warm.

Measurements (blocks finish at 9 1/2"):
99" x 65 1/2" - top
97 1/4" x 64 3/4"- after quilting
89 1/4" x 64 3/4" - after cutting off 8"
86 3/4" x 62 1/4" - after washing and drying

When I look at this quilt I see other ways it could have been sewn together and wonder how it would have changed the overall appearance of the quilt.  I'll get to try out some other layouts because I have fourteen more blocks, a dozen of which are finished and two that are yet to be sewn.  I probably won't get around to playing with them for a while so you won't be seeing layouts too soon.  (Any of you who visit my blog very often must be getting tired of seeing this quilt!)

I'm linking this post to;
OMG It's Finished: July Linkup! at Red Letter Quilts
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.

P.S.  For those who may be interested to know, my husband came home last Sunday evening.  It's been a little rough but he's slowly beginning to feel better.  Thank you for all your kind comments, encouragement, and prayers.  They mean so much.
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