Windmill quilt

In March I put in the last quilting stitches on this project that has been undergoing a process for about thirteen years. 

A few days ago sewing down the binding was almost done too. It is a strange feeling, ending a process. It is almost like saying farewell to a friend.

My pretentious working title for this quilt was 'Winds form the east'. My husband is Swedish, and I started making this when we had just met. It is a leftover quilt - made from fabrics after the making of this one.

I like the back too. After it was finished I threw it in the washer, and I find that the cotton batting has worked its wonders nicely.

The windmill blocks are quilted with lines half an inch apart. When I started working on the borders - oh, the initial woes of choosing patterns for borders - I decided I wanted to keep working in 'half inches' The pattern I landed on, so to speak, was one similar to the orange peel pattern. I outlined the peel shapes, and quilted free hand around them. As I progressed, the half inch increment narrowed down to a 'scant' quarter inch. In a way the quilting took over and started living its own life.

Choosing border, backing and binding fabrics I had good help from Trine Bakke at my favorite local quilt shop, Lappemakeriet.

Good help was also given by a dear friend, who helped me baste it before quilting. To my 'horror' I discovered my backing was not large enough. Looking through my friend's scrap basket we discovered backing fabrics from a quilt she then recently had finished. It was perfect for this backing, seen in the pic above to the right.  

Hand pieced, hand quilted. All cotton, fabrics, batting and thread.

Measurements: 56x48 inches.

Corner block - one of my favorites. Looking at this quilt, I see my color preferences have gone through some changes over the last decade or more, but the fabrics and colors in this block I could have picked out yesterday... See you.