Completing a Quilt Project

When I first saw this pattern, Coney Island, by Fig Tree Quilts, it was love at first sight!

I knew I was going to make this quilt.

It really was fun and turned out to be a challenging project.

I first had to collect fabrics, which was great, because Fig Tree fabrics are my favorite. SO off to the quilt shops and online stores I go in September 2008.

I started making blocks, and discovered I was going in a wrong direction-- the contrast wasn't working for me. I began to study the pattern photo and learned a lot about why these colors work, so I then began to duplicate more closely to the pattern, and was successful.

This project occupied my mind, time and thoughts for 23 months. It was my constant companion, something I could always work on during breaks from other projects. It was my security blanket.

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Three nights ago, I sewed the last three blocks. I felt it was a cause for celebration!

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What surprised me tho, were the other emotions I felt. I was astonished I'd finally come to the end of an intensive relationship with the making of this quilt. I couldn't believe it was over! I'd been lured into racing towards the finish line, sewing three blocks in one night, so that I could see all 30 blocks together on the board.

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Then I realized, it was no longer going to be sitting on my worktable,

waiting for me to attend to it, like an old friend.

No longer was I going to be sewing those

dainty little squares together in precise patterns.

No longer would the pile of

carefully chosen favorite fabrics

be sitting out, waiting for me to

play with color combinations.

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"I am in mourning." I couldn't even go into the sewing room to see the completed blocks for three days. I didn't want to look at it. It was like the project had betrayed me.

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Making of the blocks was finished.

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Now all that'a left are the mundane tasks, cutting fabric for sashing, border and binding,

then the quilting.

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I know, when it is quilted and laying on my bed or hanging on my wall, that I will love it, but it's not the same as the discovery process or the challenge of the process itself.

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The upside is, I have many other quilt projects waiting for me. I'll find another "old friend" to hang around with for a time. And, of course, I have my adoring public cheering me on!

I wonder what else is in store for me??

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