Sunday, March 16, 2014

Indigo Blocks, Treasured and Now Hand Quilted

18 Hand Pieced 11.5" Blocks
A while back I had a little clean out in the sewing room.  The kind where I ask myself, "Are you really going to use/finish/keep this?"

I put this stack of blocks in our Etsy shop, and hoped for the best.  By that I mean, once they sell I no longer have control over what happens to them.  Would they be destroyed in some Steam Punk craft?  They sold rather quickly.

I was still having flashes of regret as I mailed them off to their new home...







Fast-forward 9 months...

Imagine my delight when I received this photo.
The blocks went to the best home EVER.

Tracy completed a quilt and took the time to send me pictures.
After deciding on the setting and assembling the quilt she spent 6 months hand quilting this beauty.

She worked her magic and 'quilted out' those bias edges.
Gently 'made' the points work and created a great quilt.

Had the blocks stayed at my house - they'd still be in a drawer...



How to set 18 blocks?

These are the blocks laid out in their new home as plans were taking shape.

All kinds of decisions...setting, sashing, borders and backing - oh my!

Tracy told me it took several trips to shops to find the right fabrics to finish the quilt.

Clearly these blocks found the perfect home.


Once assembled, it was time for the quilting.




Grace EZ3 Quilt Frame

This is the quilt in the frame.

Note the setting, and the corner block design solution.

Tracy had 18 blocks to work with.  She considered a 6 x 3 block on point setting but decided it wouldn't give her the finished size she wanted.












Variety of indigo and shirting prints


There were decisions on the quilting itself.

So many options, maybe an all over pattern?

Not for this quilt.


Here's a detailed photo of the hand quilting.

Fabulous isn't it?



Sweet head of curls helping at the frame



Every quilting project is more fun with help.

Tracy has a couple of grandsons who like to sit in her lap as she quilts.  Her frame sits in a great spot for the family.  She might have mentioned more quilting happened AFTER a certain bedtime...

The frame sits behind the sofa, facing the TV.

This is the first quilt Tracy quilted all by herself.  She started quilting years ago with the ladies at her church.









Back folded over the front - binding finished

This is the back and binding.

The quilt is all ready for use.  Yes, she does plan to use it.  She said the little helpers may not get to use it for now ;-)

When asked what inspired her most, Tracy said,
"I love thinking that someone lovingly and painstakingly made all these blocks, and I understand starting a project, putting it away, and never getting around to finishing.  Whoever made these blocks just needed someone else to love them and finish the project."


Tracy is not a blogger so please leave her a comment here.  I'm sure you are as impressed with her work as I am.

Thank you for sharing Tracy!!
It is certainly a FINISHED project to be very proud of.

31 comments:

  1. What an absolutely wonderful story!! Love hearing the ending!! Tell her that I LOVE her quilt!!

    Blessings and hugs!

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  2. That is so nice that they went to someone who made such a beautiful quilt with them and her quilting is beautiful, gorgeous quilt.

    Debbie

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  3. What a sweet resolution to your parting with those blocks. I am so impressed that she lovingly thought out a setting, gathered fabrics, and assembled and hand quilted. She has made the blocks live!
    A job well done, Tracy!
    And thank you, Dawn, for letting us share this with you. : )

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  4. Such a lovely "save" for these beautiful blocks.

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  5. What a beautiful story. Well done both of you....it's the pure essence of patchwork!

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  6. What a happy ending for those blocks! The indigo and shirting fabrics look really wonderful when do you think they were made? She did such a lovely job of quilting it! It looks marvelous! I loved the picture with the special someone on her lap :0)

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  7. Wow, this is just lovely and so inspiring! I'm inspired to get started quilting several Mennonite tops acquired last year from an Ohio estate. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Hard to imagine those blocks turned into something so wonderful.....I like that she hand quilted.

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  9. So nice to have your blocks end up in such a lovely quilt (and much better than being unfinished forever). You may inspire me to "find" a few sets of blocks in my sewing room now! Very nice job Tracy!

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  10. Lovely account of this quilt, and how wonderful you were given an update. What a happy ending! Beautiful quilting, great layout.

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  11. What a great story and the finished quilt is very beautiful!

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  12. Great job Tracy. This is a win win situation with a touching story attached.

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  13. Wow, how special this is that Tracy made those blocks into a beautiful quilt! I loved seeing the process of the quilt, the quilting and everything. Congratulations to her on a wonderful finish!

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  14. I love that those blocks found the perfect home! Well done, Tracy!

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  15. Thank you for making my day...thank you for sharing your awesome, wonderful story!!

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  16. What a wonderful story! So glad your blocks found a great home. Really impressive to see the hand quilting with them too. LOVE that!

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  17. I just love this kind of story..so uplifting...Thank u for posting it...

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  18. What a great story and such a beautiful quilt. You must be so pleased that your ''orphans'' went to the perfect home. I love her solution for the extra spaces. Very honest and creative.

    lizzy

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  19. And they lived happily ever after. It is such a nice story. What a sweet woman this Tracy is. I mean, she bought the blocks therefore she owe you nothing. She could have just taken the package and run but no ... she understand how we grow attach to our work (even if it is not finished) and shared with you how well behaved and how happy your babies are now so you can close that chapter. LOOOVE it! Great job on the planning and quilting Tracy. You have a very sweet soul. Congrats!

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  20. This really is a happy ending story :-). Tracy have made a beautiful quilt from your blocks and I think, you both must be happy with the result.

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  21. Tracy did a beautiful job. Inspiring!!!

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  22. Now, that's a great story! I love the blocks, and can see why you had a hard time parting with them. So nice of Tracy to share the finish with you - she did a terrific job, putting the quilt all together and hand quilting - awesome finish!

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  23. Tracy, your quilting is wonderful. So nice of you to share your finish.

    Charlotte

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  24. Wow - that is awesome. Beautiful blocks and a beautiful quilt!

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  25. Tracy made an awesome quilt! I loved reading the story. It can be very difficult to give up adopted quilts/blocks. It gives me hope that the things I am trying to get listed on Ebay and Etsy will find equally good homes. Thank you for sharing. :-)

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  26. Those were beautiful blocks. Now they're a fabulous quilt. Tracy did a phenomenal job creating a lovely heirloom for her family with someone's pieces from the past.

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  27. How wonderful! Tracy did a fabulous job making a great quilt from the blocks! How nice for you to be able to hear the end of their story and share it with us

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  28. Bravo Tracy~!! this is a beautifully finished quilt and i especially love that you chose to hand quilt it.

    it's always good to see such beautiful old blocks find their way to a finish line~!

    :-D
    libbyQ

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  29. A lovely story with a beautiful finished!

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  30. Thank you all for your comments!

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Thanks for your comments!