Forever ago (okay, it only seems that way) I began a quilt for my sewing bestie as a “thank-you” for everything she is to me. I had a vision of a one-of-a-kind quilt made up of a ton of different Anna Maria Horner prints with all sorts of little details. Truth be told, it was more a vision of the idea than of an actual planned quilt. You see, I’m not great at cohesive improvisation, and that’s exactly what I had set out to do. Don’t even ask me why because I can’t tell you.

(you can see I don’t even have the binding finished in this picture…don’t judge.) 

The quilt itself was not difficult to make. I began with the embroidery, which went quickly because I’m comfortable with embroidery. The difficultly was that improv part where I would have to pull a large assortment of Anna Maria prints and bring them all together in a sensical way. That part had me so scared (that I would mess it up), it took months and months to muster up the gumption to cut out the fabric. I’m allergic to waste, so that’s part of the issue. I wasn’t about to cut out something I wouldn’t like.

Thankfully my friend’s birthday was coming up, and that turned out to be just the kick in the butt I needed to make the jump into improv. And you know what? Once I started cutting and sewing in sections, it worked out beautifully. I actually began to enjoy choosing fabrics and pairing them together, and just watching where the quilt took me.

Its funny how I hesitate at times. Its silly, really. Here I am working with fabrics from an absolutely brilliant artist who is a master of color and pattern, and I’m worried about my pairing. Do you know how difficult it would be to mess up by pairing any two off Anna Maria’s prints? Nearly impossible. So why on earth did it take me almost a year to make this quilt?

I backed this quilt with a favorite AMH voile, because voile is the most scrumptious backing ever. I just ate up the quilting time on this one. Again, I went with the idea of an improv style, and I just let each fabric and block tell me how it wanted to be quilted. The only rule I followed throughout this whole process was that my work needed to be crisp, not wonky, good quality, and consistent. Going with that, I was able to take the quilting one bit at a time and make a hundred tiny adventures out of it. I used all different colors of Perle 5’s and 8’s. I quilted diagonally and straight. I framed squares, and I embellished some of the floral motifs.

I’m so happy that despite the moments of hesitation and doubt, this quilt is probably one of my best pieces. Perhaps not everyone’s favorite, but I’ve never had such fun making a quilt. I loved every second of actual making and there was no stress. It was a surprise for my friend, and I just wanted to make it the best I possibly could for her. She loved it! The added bonus was getting it there during the month of her birthday as well. :)

So now you need to tell me- what project have you done that you anguished over? What project demanded perfection? Were you thrilled with the result? Spill it!

-Meredith