A Scrappy Finish

After the busy stuff of last week preparing to host two different "events," I find myself this week with tons of free time for sewing. 

Yay!

It helps when I have a good audiobook, too. This week I have been sewing in the court of the York King Edward IV, at the beginning of the War of the Roses. His sons were the famous "lost princes in the tower." What fascinating, yet tragic history. The book is The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, and the story is told from his wife's point of view. Elizabeth Woodville saw much tragedy in her life.

from Goodreads.com

 

All that listening has provided me time for finishing my long-term WIP, the 4-patch scrappy quilt top. Over a year ago I was gung-ho on this quilt, and worked furiously to make these blocks and stitch them into a quilt top. I didn't have a pattern, and had no ideas sketched out for how many I would need, but I felt confident that 80 blocks would be plenty.

Ahem.

Thirty-five blocks cover about a quarter of the bed.

 

If I wanted a bed quilt, eighty blocks would not be nearly enough! Why, I needed at least 80 more!  Goodness gracious; that really demoralized me. So I put it aside and worked on other things. A whole year's worth of other things, actually. (Have you seen previous examples of my skill with avoidance??)

Blocks made at quilt retreat.

As I prepared for the Quilt Retreat last month, this came out of its year-long 'time out,' and ever since, I have been steadily whittling away on the additional blocks, and finally, this week have completing a full quilt top.

I call my scrappy quilt an example of "controlled scrappy." The 4-patches are 100% from my scrap baskets. I pretty much pieced them as randomly as possible. The shirtings (white) are not necessarily scraps, although some are. I used fat quarters from my stash and tried to keep them all as consistent in their coloration as possible. The red started out as scrap red and was intended to be consistently one particular fabric. But I needed a lot and I forbid myself from buying more, so I searched the stash for a suitable matching red. As I look at this quilt on the bed, I have a hard time finding differences, although they are quite evident, if one studies it.

I had a helper when I laid the quilt top out on the bed; Rocky is here for a visit.

Now I am pondering whether to add borders or not. I suppose what I will do is check the stash for ample reds that would suit. If I don't find anything, I will just leave it borderless. I am ready to move on to the next quilt!

Happy Quilting, Friends!