Tennessee Waltz - Finished!!

Phew, it's been a long job this one, it's a big quilt, but it's finished now. I've spent most of today slip stitching the binding and sewing in ends, it was a close run thing but I've managed to get it finished in August, so kept up my one finish per month this year. An added bonus is that this one is off the UFO list. It's the same size as the Aqua Batik Quilt, I haven't measured it exactly, but it fits the king size bed nicely. So, down to the technical details.

It's made from batik fabrics, apart from the white on white, and I'm hoping and praying that none of them run when washed, or the bright white background will become mauve :o). The backing fabric is another white on white, an extra wide fabric so the back looks like a wholecloth quilt. I'm really pleased with how the quilting has come together on the back, though I'll probably never use it with this side up. As usual nowadays, the quilting designs were drawn on Golden Threads quilting paper and sewn as accurately as possible. The wadding is Hobbs Polydown, I wanted a lightweight wadding because of the size of the quilt and it had to be white because of the white background fabrics. If it wasn't for that consideration I would probably have chosen Hobbs Heirloom Wool. I used a variety of threads, King Tut Temple in the white areas and on the back, a King Tut variegated purple for the small amount of quilting on the inner border, Robison Anton pastel variegated on the border and an invisible monofilament for the quilting on the star blocks. The quilting design is Chantilly Lace and the pattern for the quilt itself is in a book by Sue Bouchard dedicated to the Tennessee Waltz design. It's part of the Quilt in a Day series, but I can assure you this is not a quilt you're ever remotely likely to make in a day LOL!

What else can I say about this quilt? I started it at a workshop with Sue Bouchard who was over from the States 2 years ago at the Festival of Quilts, so it's apt that I finish it in the same month as the show. I wouldn't even like to hazard a guess as to how many hours have gone into it, suffice to say many days' worth, with quite a few of those days in the last couple of months. My friend Quiltsue helped me choose the fabric along with her friend Helen, so thanks to them for the great colour choices (Sue did the workshop with me and made Raspberries & Cream which you can see she finished in June last year, beating me by far, but making the smaller version!). The fabric requirements in the book were a bit on the generous side, I thought it was a shame to have so much left over, so decided to put an extra row of blocks on. Unfortunately, it's not a design where you can add just one row of blocks, so two extra rows it was. It's amazing how quickly a quilt grows when you do this :o).

Here's a quick snap of it to whet your appetites, I'll upload some better pictures tomorrow when (hopefully) the sun will be shining.