Josh’s quilt… finally

I think it was in the year 2006 when I began this quilt.  I decided to take a class on paper-piecing which is a sewing technique that uses printed paper as seam guides; you actually sew fabric together onto paper then later the paper is ripped away leaving just the fabric.  It allows for very precise sewing.  It also think it’s more work and trouble than regular 1/4” seam piecing, so this will most likely be the last big quilt I make that uses paper piecing.

The approximate dimensions are 64” x 78”.  Too small for a bed, but pretty perfect for snuggling on the couch, which was the goal.  I just wanted to make sure it covered the hubby’s legs and at 6’4” tall, there’s a lot of leg to cover.

This block is called a kaleidoscope block.  There are 110 blocks total in this quilt: 11 rows of 10 blocks each.  But, it may surprise some to know that it’s just 2 different color ways of the same block that are arranged to give the optical illusion.  You can stare at the quilt and start to see different colors of circles emerge.  That’s why I like the pattern so much, even though it’s not easy sewing.

I quilted this one like I’ve been finishing lots of my quilts lately: swirl quilting.  I just like how the roundness of the quilted shapes contrast the hard lines of the patchwork.  That, and it’s one of the easiest all-over, unmarked designs that I could possibly do.  And fastest.

Since all of my quilting equipment & supplies (everything) is at my in-laws’ house still, I finished the quilt during the days when Josh was at work.  Since all of my stuff stayed there, Josh had no idea that I was working on a quilt for him.  I wrapped it up and gave it to him for his Christmas gift.  He was really surprised! 

This is him wondering what his gift was:

And here he is when he realizes what it is (Jace naturally assumed I wanted his picture, so he’s kind of in the way here):

What a precious expression.  I had promised the quilt to him a long time ago, and at one time it was a joke that he’ll never get his quilt, and then so much time had passed that it wasn’t even a joke anymore.  It’s so nice to have it done and extra nice that it gets to stay in our house for us to use and enjoy. And a special way to remember our 10th Christmas together.

Oh, and Jace gave me another chance at a picture of just him:

Here’s one last shot of the back of the quilt: