A Hope Valley Quilt

It is very, very rare that I don't finish a project within a couple weeks. A big part of what I like about making quilts is working through each step in the process. I choose the fabric, cut the fabric, make the blocks, sew the blocks together, baste the quilt, quilt the quilt, and then bind the quilt.

But then sometimes I get stuck on a step. A while back when I was working on my Patti Quilt pattern, I made blocks using my precious, hoarded Hope Valley fabric (mixed with a few other Denyse Schmidt prints) and I never sewed them together. They just sat on my sewing room floor for months.

I think this happened for a few different reasons: 1) These days I almost always mockup new projects in EQ8 so I can see them in advance but I didn't do that for this pattern and it ended up looking quite a bit different than I had envisioned, 2) these are precious fabrics and I was a little uneasy sewing with them, 3) I regretted using that green ribbon print but didn't have a better option in my stash, and 4) I was so busy with everything else going on and this was the 3rd version (see 1st and 2nd versions) of this pattern that I had made so it was moved to the back burner.

I finally worked through each step and finished the quilt last week. It didn't turn out exactly how I expected, but I love it anyway. For me it is important to remember that sometimes there is another step in the process of making a quilt: taking a step back. This one needed a little time.

For the backing I used my all-time favorite backing print which is from Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee. I think this is the fifth? sixth? quilt that I have backed with this fabric. It is amazing.

Finished Size: 60" x 72"
Pattern: The Patti Quilt
Fabric: Various Denyse Schmidt (mostly Hope Valley)
Batting: Pellon Cotton (this link is for the roll, definitely worth it if you make a lot of quilts!)
Backing: Simple Plaid by Denyse Schmidt (the orange version appears to have disappeared from the internet, but the black version is also great and is available)