Finished My Swoon! Finished My Swoon!

Can you believe it?  I can not.  I had a look back through my blog to find my first Swoon post: I first joined Sarah's Swoonalong in June 2013.  I had my Denyse Schmidt fabrics pulled, the pattern in hand and a color coded plan ready to roll.

My first 5 blocks came together in August 2013 with the rest to follow in September and November.  I was on a roll....right?  That sashing was a mental block, but I came around eventually. It was April 2014 before I showed you a finished top.  I was DELIGHTED! 

I packed it up and sent it off to an Irish longarm quilter and waited...and waited...and waited...only for her to return it to me unquilted.  I threw it into a cabinet and shut the door.  I didn't even open the returned parcel I was so disgusted.  It sat there for nearly six months, ignored.

Finally in October, Liz Dunne and I started to work together to get this monster finished off.  I can not say enough about how wonderful Liz was to work with.  She offered ideas, listened to what I imagined, generated sketches and sent on photos and texts during the quilting process.  Wonderful.  I had my Swoon returned to me on Halloween day and finally bound as a 2014 finish in mid Dec.  What a long journey!  

Want to see it?

We took Swoon on a hike up Mullaghmore, Co Clare for a photo shoot on 27 Dec 2014.  It was a stunning day...and I had 2 men with me who were over 6 ft tall and could hold the quilt up no problem.  She's too tall for my clothes line, you see.  

The back was pieced Le Creme (with hot pink microdots) with a WOF strip of Farmgirl's Garden (by Joined at the Hip for Clothworks).  It was pretty straight-up as far as just piecing an off-center strip of my focus fabric within the Le Creme.  The back fabric color coordinated PERFECTLY with the DS prints I used on the front.  It's quite floral and romantic, which is not really me, but it works very nicely in this context.

At this point on our hike, the sun was starting to go down, so the quilt is a bit orange/pink tinted.  I couldn't stop taking photos, though.

The quilting by Liz was unique for each block.  The texture is incredible.  Liz used an Angela Walters swirl hook in the negative space, ribbon candy in the grey border, feathers in the gold borders, finger quilting in the exterior halo of the star with orange peels in the interior part of the star to give a flower-like effect.  The center of each star has a circular feather wreath.  All told, it's about 50 hours worth of quilting in this quilt.  

Thank you all for your continued encouragement through the long process of making this quilt.  This was a bit of a struggle at times, but now that she's finished I could not be happier.  I pet her every time I walk by, trace the quilting with my fingers and show her off to anyone who is polite enough to fake caring.  This quilt finish fills my heart with happiness and pride.

Quilt Stats:

Name: Swoon.  What else would it be?

Made for: Me. Me. Me.  It will live on my guest bed.

Fabric: Kona with Denyse Schmid fabrics on top.  Riley Blake Le Creme dot for the back with Clothworks "Farmgirl's Garden". Denyse Schmidt binding.

Thread: Pieced with 100% cotton Aurifil.  Quilted with So Fine pearl.

Batting: 100% Simply Cotton.

Size: 96x96 inches.  She's a whopper.

Quilting: Quilted by Liz Dunne. 

Pattern: Swoon by Thimble Blossoms, found here.