A Finish!

When I first saw this quilt advertised as a BOM from Primitive Gatherings in one of the quilting magazines, it was love at first sight and knew I just had to join in!  I started working on it almost two years ago and the flimsy was put away in a plastic container for more than a year,  waiting for me to decide as to whether I’d add the four appliquéd borders that are a part of the original design.

Because the appliquéd elements are made with hand dyed wools, the quilt cannot be washed and I doubt that I would take the chance of having it dry cleaned either.  This would mean that the only alternative would be to hang it and there aren`t too many walls in our home large enough to accommodate a full-sized quilt, which ultimately helped in my decision making.

About a month ago, I threw caution to the wind, added a border and handed it over to my friend and longarm quilter extraordinaire, Nancy, and told her to “have at it!”   I think this is either the fourth or fifth quilt that Nancy has quilted for me and not once have I been disappointed.  Everything is done free motion and the quilting designs are her own.  She is truly an amazing quilting artist.

The quilt is called A Primitive Garden and is designed by Lisa Bongean.  Here it is, quilted and bound.

In all honesty, the photos do not do it justice. 

All the elements are hand appliquéd in the most rich, soft and yummy hand dyed woolens that I have ever worked with.

More close ups of random blocks.

Can you see the incredible quilting?

Each block is quilted differently.

The detail that Lisa incorporates into her designs is amazing.

It gave me great pleasure to be able to finally stitch my initials and year onto the back of this quilt.  Can you make them out in the bottom left corner?  The idea for this came to me from a 1923 Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt that I have in my collection.  You really have to search for the initials and year and I thought that perhaps someone in the future might experience the same ‘eureka’ moment that I did when I discovered those on the antique quilt stitched subtly onto the backing.

All that remains is to find the proper hardware with which to hang it!

Happy stitching!

Kaaren ♥