Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I finally fiished my postage stamp quilt!  I am so excited that it is finished!

 

  I started working on it during the spring of 2008, so it only took two and a half years.:)  It is made with 3,800 1 1/2 inch squares-3,000 on the front and 800 on the back.

 Each block contains 100 squares.  The finished size is 80" x 91".  I started piecing it on my mom's vintage 70's Kenmore sewing machine and finished with my Bernina.  I stippled all over for the quilting; I used eleven bobbins of thread, which is the most quilting I have ever done on a single quilt.  I really like the dense quilting on this one.

 I started collecting squares way back then, and I participated in two rounds of a postage stamp swap on Craftster to get an assortment of colors. I knew I wanted to make blocks of one color, but I wasn't sure about the arrangement.

  I tried a couple different variations, and I really liked some of them; I may go back and make another one in the future based off one of the variations I tried.   I wanted it to be big enough to fit a full size bed when it was finished, so I quickly realized I would need a border or to separate the blocks.  I am happy with the way it turned out. 

 I went with my daughter to the park to take pictures of it, and it is a little wrinkled from being squished in the bottom basket of her stroller.  I kind of like the wrinkled look because it shows it will be loved and used.:)


 I have always photographed my quilts in my backyard, but it was fun trying to get different pictures of it.  It is currently back in the washer because it did get dirty from lying on the grass; we have a lot of geese in Colorado.

I actually sewed the binding on by hand on this one.  It was the first time I have ever tried that!  It felt like it took forever; it was about two weeks sewing for 30 minutes to an hour at night with a marathon sewing session during the Auburn vs. Old Miss game last night. 

It is definitely one of my favorite quilts I have made, if not my favorite.  I love that it is my own design and that it turned out just like I wanted.

If you want to see in-progress pictures, follow the links below:
May 28, 2008-starting, July 14, 2008, September 8, 2008 (layouts), February 23, 2009 -top almost pieced, May 29, 2010 basted and started quilting and then started ripping stitches out, and October 15, 2010-quilting.

I am entering this into Amy's Quilt Festival.  I look forward to this event every spring and fall.  There are some amazing quilts every year, so go look if you are ready to be inspired!

You can see my previous entries by following the links below:
Spring 2010 and Fall 2009

Thank you for stopping by!