SLW is quilted

This quilt has been a worrisome thing. I've enjoyed the celebrations, but the fretting parts have not been fun. There's so much to it though, that I feel compelled to deal with the parts, good and bad.

The sun makes a stained glass illusion.

After the Sherry Lynn Wood workshop, I thought seriously of abandoning the chunks of fabric that I'd put together but guild sisters said to keep going. I decided to take it on as part of the Cotton Quilters "Finish on a UFO" challenge. 

I like the purples, which may be blue in reality.

I tossed in AHIQ's hourglass challenge--because what's a challenge without a challenge and I'm an idiot, sometimes--and found that I really liked how the hourglass blocks helped to make sense of it all. Then AHIQ helped again when I remembered the old Chinese coins challenge and used that to come up with a setting. Ann and Kaja, thanks for the help!

a row of hour glass blocks

The idea of quilting this was overwhelming. I folded it up and put it in the "to be quilted" bin, where the possibility of never looking at it again is kind of real. But where would that get me after all the other challenges? So a week or so later, I made a backing, loaded everything on, and tried to make a plan. 

Some of the original pieces

I should have known better. I don't make plans! Those are throwbacks from the old teaching days when everything was planned, or schemed. :) No, these days I have to plug in the machine and hold onto the handles. Something happens. Some times I have to rip out the stitches, but mostly I just play along with the muse that is the machine. (Doesn't that have a poetic ring?)

The neutral has a green undertone that may influence the binding.
But it's too soon to tell.

The quilting is rather unconventional. I mostly followed the shapes, but occasionally added some sort of motif in areas that needed additional quilting. I like that quilting it this way tends to draw people in because the motifs are a surprise. The kids started looking for circles and other shapes. They asked a couple of times how many to look for. I haven't the slightest idea! Ask the muse.

Linking up with
For the love of geese #47 Thanks, Denise!