Linen Whole Cloth Quilt FINALLY Finished...!

When I first put the linen whole cloth printed queen panel (Welsh Beauty) on my frame, I never imagined it would still be on there almost 3 weeks later waiting to be finished:

It's not that I didn't work on it fairly consistently - in between moving my youngest daughter, putting together furniture for same daughter's first house, trying to keep our three-acre lot mowed and weeded all while dodging the contractors' vehicles, tools and dirt piles they've managed to scatter ALL over my yard for my golden bears (retrievers) to drag around, and design a new zebra quilt for my granddaughter's new room, which is turning out fabulously by the way ;-).  I underestimated just how long it would take to quilt this one, especially all the swags and feathers.  Maybe it's because I've never quilted swags or these types of traditional feathers:

I was also surprised ALL the blue marks came out along w/gel marks I put on to practice my feathers prior to stitching them out.  The quilt looks so much better after laundering and I'm delightfully surprised how nicely it displays. 

 

They certainly are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I did improve quite a bit, which was the whole purpose of quilting this whole cloth printed panel, AND I'm no longer afraid of feathers ;-).  I now know I can indeed quilt them, even free-hand which I practiced at the end on extra top/backing/batting fabric and was even able to incorporate some of it into my quilt label:

Pocket quilt label

Making a pocket quilt label out of leftover fabric to tuck potpourri, care instructions, and possibly even a note about how/why the quilt was originally made seemed like a good idea.  It turned out much better than I originally thought it would and I think I will make more of these in the future.  It does have a pearl button (shank) w/string wrap closure to keep things safely inside the pocket and for easy removal and additions later on.  I named the quilt the Good Friday Quilt since I was able to finish it on Good Friday.

While I was ready to quit quilting about halfway through and probably won't try to tackle another queen-size  printed top, at least for awhile anyway, I'm glad I finished it and will now be able to apply what I've learned to ALL those quilt tops waiting in the wings...

And as I always say, time to get back to it!

Happy Easter Everyone,

~Deb