orange explosion

I've been at this quilting thing for almost 7 years now,

so I figured it was high time I made my mom a quilt!

I started this One Block Wonder 

way back in July,

using Joel Dewberry's Heirloom Roses in Citron.

I choose this particular fabric 

because I thought the colors would go well in Bill's TV room,

which is decorated sorta aztec-y.

I figured, even though the design didn't match,

the colors, would...

I choose the OBW design,

because I thought my mom would love all of the different flowers that were created.
And it just seems fitting;
when you start a OBW,
you have no clue exactly what your quilt will end up looking like.
And so it is as a mom.
You really have no clue
what all that love and hard work you pour into your children
will turn into.

The 'flowers' went together quickly,

but turning the flowers into a quilt top
took
for.e.ver.
There was lots and lots (and lots) of pinning

and still I had some points that weren't perfect.

Ah well.
Nobody knows I'm not perfect
better than my mom!

Once I had the triangles all sewn together,

I trimmed the top and bottom edges

and added the border

(my first mitered border)

then made the backing.

I spray basted the top to the batting (bamboo - it's quickly becoming a favorite)

and then proceeded to quilt,

(without the back)

in the ditch,

every. stinking. diagonal seam.

(I'd read that this was very important for OBW quilts, especially)

Then I added the quilt backing

and stitched in the ditch every-other vertical seam,

before proceeding with my real quilting,

a huge spiral

that began in the very orangest block

and moved outward.

I sprinkled in sections of hand quilting where it seemed right.

Like a good girl,
I knotted and buried the threads at all of my starts and stops..

I had a lot of starts and stops...

Then I added the binding

and alternated between stitching it on the back,

and hand-quilting the 1 inch ivory border.

I'd hoped to have it finished, except for the orange border,

(which I hadn't yet determined how I was quilting)

before I went to California,
but with my earlier departure,
that didn't happen.

I considered bringing it with me,

but I didn't want to feel pressured to work on it

instead of snuggling Hadley,

and even though it's just a throw size,

it's kinda big to be working on

on a plane.

After getting back home,

I only had 3 days to get it finished,

because my family's Christmas celebration with my mom

was the Sunday before Christmas.

We watched a little more Netflix than normal ;-)

and I finished the hand stitching late Saturday morning.

Then I pulled the machine back out and

did two rows of machine stitching in the orange border.

It needed something more,

but I didn't think just another row down the center would cut it.

Plus,

I kinda wanted something triangular

in the border,

so after much debate and testing of stitches,

I used the triple zig zag.

I'm normally not a fan of the zig zag,

but I think it worked well here

to help frame the quilt

and pull it all together.

I tossed it in the wash Saturday afternoon,

a full 13 hours before we'd be giving it to Mom and Bill :-)

I love you Mom (and Bill)

I hope you love your quilt,

and even though you likely won't actually use it,

maybe somebody will snuggle up with it now and then...

linking up with Amanda Jean and Lee :-)