Finished!! Burgoyne Surrounded Top!

Man, oh man, if you had told me I would make this quilt and get the top done in a month's time, I would have certainly thought you were crazy. Yet I have done it, and I couldn't be happier with my finish!

I've gone back to see when I started this madness, and it appears I cut out and sewed the first block on Saturday, January 11. I wrote about it here. That makes one month and two days to the finished quilt top. For me, that is an accomplishment. I tend to get about 3/4ths done on something and then begin something else.

My interest was piqued after I saw several of my favorite bloggers all working on different versions of the same quilt. After just a bit of investigating, I discovered that it was a quilt along sponsored by American Patchwork and Quilting magazine called Tone It Down, in the February 2014 issue. The idea was to make a quilt with gazillions of different fabrics; from a distance it all would look uniform, while up close, the scrappiness would be evident.

The block is called Burgoyne Surrounded, and while I knew that it was a block with some history attached to it, I had to look it up for particulars. John Burgoyne was a British general who led an attack on Saratoga, New York, in the American Revolutionary War. He surrendered to American troops after being surrounded. It is said that this victory for the Americans was the turning point of the war.

When I was planning my version of the quilt, I decided on using a patriotic theme, as the block was historical in nature. I had no idea that it represented such a pivotal battle in the fight for freedom, so that makes me really glad that I did go with red, white and blue.

In my pictures I see more contrast than I want to see in my background fabrics. In real life, it is not nearly as pronounced. This makes me think that I might consider giving it a tea-bath. I think it might look more uniform if the lighter backgrounds had that darker tone. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would be very interested to hear them.

Do you think you would be interested in seeing some of the other quilts? You can search the blogs of the following quilters for an incredibly wide variety of "takes" on the Burgoyne Surrounded quilt. I have to say, these ladies probably worked like the dickens to get their quilts completed. But to anyone reading their blogs, it was like they started one day and were nearing the finish the next! It was intimidating! I think I worked about as steadily as I could, and it took me a month. Maybe those gals have elves that come in at night to work on their quilts, like that old cobbler in the fairy tale. Hmmm, wonder how I get myself an elf?

Here's the list of quilters/bloggers who participated for the magazine:
Amy's Creative Side
Bunny Hill Designs
Thimble Blossoms
Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.
Quilt Jane
All People Quilt/Jennifer Keltner
Jolly Jabber at Fat Quarter Shop
Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings
Moda Lissa
A Quilting Life

 If you Instagram, the hashtag is #apqquiltalong.

Hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Quilting, Friends!