12 September, 2018

Never Too Late

It's never too late to change your mind; at least not when it comes to finishing a quilt.  This one was a long time coming too, it had been loaded and unloaded off the rails more times than I can count; to quilt other quilts. Finally, last weekend, this Sampler saw that last quilting stitch go in and it was time for trimming and binding.

I laid it out in the foyer to get some quick snapshots last Sunday afternoon. As you can see, I heavily quilted this one; creating different fills and patterns in each block and filling in with whimsical feathers. This is why it took forever for me to complete, there was much auditioning and thought process involved.



This quilt is the result of a block-of-the-month from at least ten years ago. I had purchased enough of a small coordinating print (with that celery-green as its background) for the backing and had carefully stored it in my stash closet all these years, so I was good to go. I remembered, on Sunday, that I had also stored enough fabric to bind this one. Could I find it? NO! I thought, for sure, that I had enough of that brick red to cut 363" linear inches of binding. I tore the closet apart. It wasn't there. I was sad but undaunted, I knew that I could always use the trimmings from the backing to make enough binding and call it a day-- DONE! I meticulously cut the binding and attached it all around, even marking my stitching line so that it would be absolutely perfect. All the while, though, I wasn't happy with the binding choice. It needed to be darker, it needed more pizzazz. I talked myself into stitching it down onto the quilt anyway; after all, what else could I do? I stitched 7/8 of the way around the quilt (including all four mitered corners!) before I stopped. I decided to look for my designated binding fabric one. more. time. I walked to the stash closet. There it was! Sitting ever so sweetly mid-way down through the stack of neatly folded red fabrics; and, of course, there was exactly enough! I was speechless. Off came the binding pictured at the top of this post. Yes, it took me a few more hours to pick all the threads, make new binding, attach it and baste it down. I am ready to finish this one now for once and for all-- with a satisfied smile on my face. My mother's words ring in my ears: "if it's worth doing it's worth doing right"; that applies to finishing too! It's never too late to change your mind. Oh, and now this quilt has a name: "Never Too Late"; it is appropriate on oh-so-many levels. 
I need a better inventory system in that closet though!
Life is Good! 
 

7 comments:

Janet O. said...

LOL A story to which every quilter can probably relate. But I'm not sure all of us are dedicated enough to unpick a 7/8ths finished binding. I will admit that your red binding looks like the perfect finish!

cityquilter grace said...

very nice and you did the right thing...in the end, you are the only quilt police that needs to be happy with it...and you will be happy for it as well...good job!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Congratulations on a beautiful finish - and you are SO right about the quilt's new name. Love your quilt assistant in that one photo (smile).

julieQ said...

I really love the heavy quilting you did...perfection! Your binding looks wonderful!

Quilting Babcia said...

Another name for your quilt might be Worth Waiting For. It's simply beautiful! The red binding is totally perfect. Not sure which I love more, the fabulous quilting or that magnificent border fabric!

Debbie Lou said...

Beautiful quilting on your quilt. Great job!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

You have put such beautiful quilting in this quilt, and I am glad you took the extra time to look for the red binding yet again and do all that unripping to put on what you wanted. The red makes the quilt.