Almost Finished!

I finally finished hand quilting and stitching the binding on the Scrappy Irish Chain quilt my grandmother had pieced a number of years ago!  I've only been working at this for a number of years, as evidenced here, here, here, and here!  It belongs to my sister Renee (assuming I can bear to part with it when it's completed!).  I've grown so attached to it.... 

Initially (initially meaning more than 12 years ago!!), Renee and I added the blue border, a 1930's reproduction print to complement the era of the quilt,

 then basted it together. 

We selected another 30's print for the backing and binding (although, based on what I know now about quilts from those eras, I would have simply chosen a solid off-white backing to be more historically accurate).
Renee was going to find someone in her area to hand quilt it for her.  But then, I felt the need to put my own hand stitches into it since it had been primarily hand stitched by my grandmother.

I dragged my feet on the project, not sure how I wanted to quilt it. I finally decided to do a simple diagonal quilting stitch so as not to take away from the charm of the quilt, and to make my grandmother's piecing the focus.  But, when it came time to mark the quilting lines, it drove me bonkers!  Since it wasn't pieced accurately,

the quilting lines didn't always intersect with the patches.  But, as with any quilt, those minor glitches or inaccuracies often disappear in the context of the whole of the quilt, and once I got past that silly hurdle, I found it really enjoyable to quilt.  My arm had been bothering me due to a neck issue from a car accident several years ago (it finally dawned on me that that's why I had lost the motivation to do any hand quilting these past few years!), but thankfully my arm settled down enough for me to finish the quilting.  I just have to repair a few blocks where the piecing came undone and some of the fabrics frayed, make a label for it, and then it's completely finished!

I find this quilt to be so, so endearing.  I love the scrappy fabrics, and I felt connected to my grandmother as I put my own stiches into it.

My sisters and I each have a quilt top from my grandmother.



Mine is a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt which I hand quilted shortly before my grandmother passed away at the age of 101.  I love this picture of my grandmother and her quilt, taken in front of her flower garden....

My sister Alison's quilt top has yet to be quilted!