I am so proud of my creation. It was a lot of work and a lot of snatches of evenings--between grading papers and working on lesson plans, I took some time to work on something that was just for me, and I am so so glad I did.
I pieced with my machine and quilted by hand. I also bound the quilt by hand, so I really feel like I got the full experience. My mitered corners... are not so mitered. They ended up looking a little more... round... than I originally intended, so I'm making mini quilts (also known as potholders) to practice more corners before I invest in another pieced quilt project.
Of course, it's not very big. I guess I made a wall-hanging mini-quilt? It feels a little bit like a giant place mat. But it's MY giant place mat!
I did want to try machine quilting, so I gave it a shot with a whole cloth quilt which is throw-sized. I picked a bright, sunshiny yellow to counteract all this cloud cover we've been having. I decided it might be neat to mirror a "traditional" quilt pattern without the piecing, so I channeled Ribbon Stars.
It's funny how I look at it now--I can't see the stars unless I take a minute and readjust. I was so focused on the squares as I was quilting, that now the squares are nearly all I see. The stars are very evident to Mr. Kopf though, and he was impressed.
A couple days ago, a New York Times article from the Opinion pages snagged me and voiced what I've been thinking a lot this semester: I am much more productive when I have more time to be creative, and when I break up my work into intervals. Check it out. It's a pretty affirming read.
I guess relaxing, saving time for enjoyment, and refocusing is something I needed to hear: Miranda (do I reference her enough?) of One Little Minute just echoed similar sentiments in her Alt 2013 recap.
So my next quilt project will be put together by my real ribbon stars that I started several weeks ago. I'm looking forward to seeing all the red, white, and blue come together... maybe by July 4th. Who knows!
