Friday Finish: Crafty Therapy Quilt

It has been a while since I have had a quilt finish! This quilt is with its new owner so I can now share all the details.

I have shown these EPP blocks here before as well as the quilting in progress. According to my blog, I started these happy flower blocks about two years ago. (You can read about the beginning here.) Earlier this year, I threw these blocks on my design wall to see my progress. That experiment (with the help and suggestions of friends) resulted in this quilt top.

Flower blocks being assembled at Crafty Tuesday

What I have kept secret is the recipient and the reason for the quilt. Around the time I decided to make a mini on point quilt, I learned my friend (and our Crafty Tuesday host) was moving to Paris….France. Since most of these blocks were made around her table surrounded by friends, this became destined as Caroline’s “I’m so sad you are moving; we will miss you, quilt”. For that reason, it didn’t even matter if I worked on the quilt on Tuesdays.

Many knitting projects were made at Caroline’s so this Cotton+Steel sweater fabric is the perfect choice for the backing. Again, I was hoping this would be another reminder of the fun we all had crafting together.

We soon learned not to ask Caroline when she was actually moving to France. For months we happily crafted not thinking about the day that she would move, (or sometimes we would dream of a Crafty Tuesday gathering in Paris) until the day that Caroline told us her family was not moving out of the country after all! This project now became the “Yay you aren’t moving to France” quilt.

During those months, I had basted the quilt with wool batting and began the long overthinking (which I tend to do with everything) process of how to hand quilt. In the end I went with a big stitch (using Eleganza thread) on both sides of the seams, hoping it would make the flower blocks the focal point. The poofyness of the wool batting gave me trouble when it came to stitching (which I complained about a lot on Instagram). I ended up doing a stab and stitch method which took forever. I began to wonder if I was going to finish by the guild holiday Sew Day and before I left for Montana.

A quick photo shoot while the quilt is still in my possession.

Obviously, I did finish in time. The quilt started as “I’m so sad you are leaving”, became the “Yay, we get to keep you”, and ended as “Crafted Therapy” (and all of the above) quilt. I spent that last week intensely stitching while binge watching The Great British Baking Show. I actually found that time cathartic, thinking about how much I enjoy (need would be a more appropriate word) Crafty Tuesday, appreciating the friendships that have grown, and reveling in the fact that Crafty Tuesday will continue.

If you have read all the way to the end, I thank you. This blog post itself has been therapeutic.

Happy stitching, friends!