As a longarm machine quilter who quilts for customers, I am often asked whether I get to piece any quilts for myself. Unfortunately, I don't get to make as many quilts for myself these days as I would like to. There are always some quilts floating around in my head, many of which never get made. I do usually have some piecing on the go.
The following quilt is a hand pieced quilt which is still a work in progress. In fact, it has been a work in progress for about five years, although it seems to be finally coming together. The quilt I am making is the Wheel of Fortune Quilt from the cover of Kaffe Fassett's book Caravan of Quilts. I bought the quilt as a kit some years ago which is not something I usually do but it was a quilt I fell in love with and had to have. I am hand sewing the quilt using the English paper piecing method which has made it a very portable project. In fact, the quilt has been sewn over five summer holidays to Tathra, has been to numerous Port Fairy Folk Festivals and at swimming lessons too numerous to count. When I take the project to our Wednesday evening sewing group the others just roll their eyes in disbelief that I am still working on this project.
The quilt is made in eight segments, all of which I have now completed. It has finally stopped being a portable project! All I need to do now to complete the top is to sew the segments together.
Here is a close up of a section.
I still have all the paper pieces in the back - I can't wait until the day I will be able to remove them all - which will be another huge task. The paper pieces were purchased from the Lizard of Oz who have an incredible range of shapes ready for cutting out.
Will I finish this quilts this year? Probably not.. What will I work on during my summer holiday now? The next question will be how to quilt this - but that can wait a while. Do you have any projects that have been on the go for this long?
Omlordy! That is a stunning quilt! I have seen many pieces of this quilt over the last five years, and cannot believe how good this is going to be when finished! Thanks for letting me stitch one piece of your quilt :)
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures.
Ritax
WOW! Seriously impressed...and all by hand - inspiring stuff Karen x
ReplyDeleteThis quilt is so fabulous! Simply stunning!
ReplyDeleteJust amazing. Very, impressive - and by hand!
ReplyDeleteSome quilts take awhile, I have much older projects than that but I'm not saying how old. This one is a stunner and worth finishing.
ReplyDeleteOh Karen this is absolutely stunning! You must be thrilled you are so near to finishing it. I have also made this one (different colours), if you want to see check here: http://cabbagequilts.blogspot.com/2009/04/favourite-quilt.html
ReplyDeleteunfortunately when I blogged about this I didn't know how to take better photo's but you will get the idea. I can't wait to see how you quilt yours, it will be stunning whatever you choose. xo
This is an amazingly beautiful quilt and you should be so proud of your work!!! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteWoW,such a stunning quilt! very impressive.
ReplyDeleteHow pretty! I have a Grandmothers Flower Garden I've been hand piecing for about 3-4 years, still have a good 3-4 years to go I'm guessing! Like you, it's a good project to take in the car and to quilt meetings.
ReplyDeletefantastic job and story behind the quilt....thanks for adding it to our kaffe group on flickr so that i could discover your blog!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing piece of art Karen!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I discovered your blog via Wendy's latest post. I didn't know you were blogging.
I have added links to your blog on my latest post re our catch up. Sorry for the omission.
Andi :-)
Hey wow! Hand stitching takes patience!
ReplyDeleteYes - I have one of my first quilts still in blocks & all hand stitched! . . . I enjoy the journey too much!
Love it, and also the long journey it has taken so far.
ReplyDeletei'm working on a Dear Jane prject since a couple of years and there isn't even a quarter of the quilt ready. :-)
I just love this quilt and would like to make one myself - can you tell me what size diamonds you are using? And they are 45 degree diamonds I'm guessing?
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