Friday Finish

i'm kind of embarrased to admit that i started this quilt maybe eight years ago.  i can't recall exactly, but it started out as a quilt intended for my friend jessica's little brother, jay, who is also a friend.  he was going through a rough patch and i wanted to make something to cheer him up a bit.  but then somehow the quilt got sidelined, jay moved to another state, and the project was forgotten and abandoned.

then a few years ago, i re-discovered it, and planned to finish it for M's brother for Christmas,  but he passed away before then, and the quilt remained unfinished.

i re-discovered it AGAIN this past december when cleaning out my cutting table cabinet, and this time resolved to finish it for a charity quilt.

turns out, it was almost finished.  i had raw edge appliqued the stars onto the pieced background AND the batting, except for two stars.  all that was left then was to back it, quilt it and bind it.  since the stars were zi-zagged onto the top and the batting, i only quilted in diagonal lines through the muslin squares, going both directions.  i was able to find enough homespun plaid in my christmas fabrics bin to piece together a backing and make binding.

i finished the handstitching on the binding last sunday night while M and i watched tv, but in doing do discovered a place where i needed to pick out some bad quilting stitches.  i did that monday night, re-quilted the one block, and tossed the quilt into the washer and dryer.  it came out super soft and crinkly!

when i asked M to help hold the quilt for me to take a picture this morning, he kept admiring the quilt.  i'd intended to donate it to the Houston Modern Quilt Guild's charity drive for wheelchair quilts, but when he kept on going on and on about how much he liked the quilt, i asked M if he wanted to keep it, and of course he said yes.  so now it's his!