Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Hopscotch and a Win!

Hi. My name is Emily. It has been 3 days since I purchased my last bit of fabric.

I'm not a hoarder, I'm a *ahem* collector. I collect the pretty fabric with every intention of doing something fabulous with it right away. And then I doubt that my plan is really the best use of my pretty fabric. So it goes into my drawer of pretty fabric and there is waits.

Well. One day I'd had enough of that nonsense. I pulled out a jelly roll I have had for months (years?) and decided it was time to get cracking! I wanted to make a Hopscotch quilt from Thimble Blossoms and my Sweetwater Reunion was just the fabric for it.


I got the top sewn together pretty quickly. I mean, it has A LOT of pieces to it. But thats jut part of what makes it so special right?!


Triangles all sewn together, but not into strips yet ^^^


And like MAGIC, the strips all sewn together ^^^


Back and binding all picked out ^^^


And then I decided that straight line quilting was the way to go. Worst. Idea. Ever. Don't get me wrong, I totally love how straight line quilting looks once its done. But it took For.ever. Hours and hours of sewing line after line. And probably two spools of thread. 


This was at the half way point. I wasn't totally sure I was ever going to finish. But I just kept going and one day had a marathon of sewing. I think it took me four hours straight to finish the quilt, but I was determined and nothing was stopping me from finishing that darn thing!



Somewhere along the way I decided that this quilt would be for my dad. He is such a great man. Supportive and kind and loving to everyone. I knew it was something he would love. I also decided somewhere along the line that I would enter this quilt into the State Fair. This meant that I needed the binding to look good, and that meant it had to be hand sewn down. Normally I do the quick and dirty method, and just sew it on but I'm never totally happy with how that looks and so I knew I needed to be able to make sure it looked great. 




Don't you just love that floating triangle on the back side? I think its a fun little addition to the quilt.

My dad came over to visit two weeks ago and I told him that I had a birthday present for him and that he could see it early, or he could see it once the fair has finished. He wanted to see it right away and he loved it! 

Last night we were finally able to get over to the Fair and see if I won anything and I got a blue ribbon, first place, in my division!! I was super excited to see that! I'd geared myself up for no ribbon at all so that was exciting for me! So now my dad has the pleasure of owning a first place quilt! HA! 




I'm linking up!

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

17 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the ribbon! Your dad is a lucky man.

    :) Linda

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  2. Congratulations on a fabulous finish AND your blue ribbon win! How exciting is that! And good for you finally doing something w/your hoarded...collected fabric. lol. I'm visiting from Let's Bee Social AND I'm a new follower on IG. Stop on by for a visit anytime!

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    1. I have accumulated quite the "collection" Hahahaha! Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. Congratulations Emily! You totally deserve that blue ribbon. This is a gorgeous quilt and the colours/fabrics you chose are perfect for the design. All those straight lines were so worth it in the end. Your dad must be proud!

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    1. Thanks! Now that the quilting is a bit of distant memory, it wasn't so bad ;) Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Congratulations on your finish! And a blue ribbon! Wow! Gorgeous quilt.

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  5. That's a pattern I have wanted to make for forever! Great job and congrats : )

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  6. Replies
    1. Thank you! I think the back is one of my favorite elements of the whole thing!

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  7. Your first sentences could have been about me! That's always the agony, isn't it? Once I decide on the right project for my material, I fret about what if I happen on a better pattern but it's too late! Hahaha

    The quilt is wonderful! And a blue ribbon too, like a cherry on top of it all! Congratulations!

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    1. Its terrible! I get anxiety thinking about cutting into the pretty fabric and sort of just freeze! HA! I'm going to try to get better at it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. Congratulations on a wonderful win! What a beautiful quilt it is, your dad is one lucky man!

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  9. This a fantastic quilt! I love Reunion :) I've got everything for a Hopscotch quilt but I keep putting it off. It looks tedious but hopefully I'm wrong. Congrats on the blue ribbon!

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