Finished!

Somehow it feels really good to have finished this quilt by the end of January. That makes two quilting projects finished this month. This quilt top was begun last summer, just as a way of utilizing some scraps. There are lots of "memorable" fabrics in this quilt: from G and C's wedding quilt, made in 1995, from vests made for 2 daughters and a sister sometime in the 90's, from a jacket I made for myself early 90's, from K's king-size quilt, from K's lap quilt, etc., etc.

For the top, I bought only the sashing and border fabric; the rest came from the stash. The red squares (from our bed quilt, started in 1986 and completed in 1996) were the starting point, and the other fabrics added, log cabin style, though it is NOT a log cabin quilt. Thought of using that for the name, but settled instead on "Red Square." I love the way the red squares seem to float up off the surface of the quilt.

The batting and backing were new. The flannel backing is black with colour crayon images of rockets, just right for a young boy.

It measures 67" x 84" which should do fine for a single bed. It was made without a donee, but later chosen for Dear Grandson #3, who turned 10 last August. His sister was the recipient of the "Kids Can" quilt finished last September on time for their visit at Thanksgiving.

It's machine quilted, in black around each of the pieces of sashing, and in variegated thread in each of the blocks. I didn't want to quilt each piece in the block. That would make the whole quilt too stiff. I finally decided on this pattern of quilting in the blocks, enough to "highlight" the red square and tie down the rest of the block, but not too overpowering.

I'm very happy with this quilt, and now I just have to figure out how to get it to him. Maybe by Greyhound bus? Mailing it would be out of range, considering that it costs about $10 to mail a pair of mittens.