What seems like a long time ago now, 2010 to be precise; the local quilt shop I was working in at the time was running a mystery quilt, led by one of the Tutors - Carol. I challenged myself to make the quilt with only stash. Turns out I had enough stash, except for 1m to make the entire quilt, including the backing and binding.
Each week a new clue was given out, until you received them all and were able to put the quilt together. Unfortunately, there was a hiccup and the template printing for the angled squares had not been set to 100%, so some fudging was required.
Three different blocks were made, the easiest being the 'focus' fabric because you only had to cut it into squares!
How the blocks play together in the final layout is amazing, there is interplay between a diagonal chain, large stars and square-in-a-square blocks.
I got the quilt top together, which was a bit difficult, due to the before-mentioned error in the angled squares, got the borders on with some fudging - just, and I mean just, enough fabric for the borders.
Onto the backing! I started by piecing together the leftovers, including the littlest pieces. Then I hunted through my stash for a nice large piece to complete it. Voila - there was enough - phew!
I made the binding, found a thread that I liked for the machine quilting, and then bundled the quilt up, put it away and waited for cooler weather before quilting it. Well....... it sat, put away until a couple of house moves later and the year 2022 - yep, 12.5 years after starting it... I hear that quilts, like a good wine or cheese, only improve with age ;)
In 2022, my friend Lizzie of Thimble and Thread Quilting was having a "sale" on quilts of a certain size and this one fitted into that category. So, I bundled it up and took it to her. Well.... let's just say, poor Lizzie did not have a very easy time of it - turns out one of my borders was 'wavy'. She did an amazing job of the quilting. We chose a nice grey-blue thread and a plant/leaf/morris style for the edge-to-edge design.
Finally, just 10 days ago, I put the final stitches into the binding and added the label. This was timed to be able to give the quilt to my friend JMc, for a fundraiser, supporting Destiny Rescue at a "Gather the Girls" event which was held last weekend.
My quilt was put into the silent auction on the night and raised $500.00AUD for the charity. It is very heartwarming to know that my quilt is going to be loved and some young girls will be saved from the horrors of trafficking. Sadly, other commitments had prevented my from attending the night, but I was kept well informed of all that happened by my friend.
