Welcome to my first "Finished Or Not Friday" for 2026!
As always our gracious hostess is the lovely Alycia of Quilty Girl Alycia. I've already checked and it looks like there were A LOT of quilters who took advantage of all the bad weather to stay in and get some projects moved to a finish!
This is Bonnie Sullivan's "Over and Down Under" design made from a Windham Fabrics kit featuring a Jelly Roll of their "Gala" fabric line by Whistler Studios.
I was thrilled to get this kit because it came with Bonnie's pattern which is one I had long wanted to make --- the fact that the kit was also on sale helped too, LOL! Even better, the notice about the sale came right before "Sew A Jelly Roll Day" in 2023 so when I started this, it presented a fun opportunity to particpate in that event for the first time.
The backing stash I collected also gave me an opportunity to pay tribute to a trip we were due to take in the Fall of that year:
When I shopped for the backing, I saw these pillow panels sold as a yardage cut and thought the colors perfectly reflected the colors of the "Gala" Jelly Roll. I was excited that I might get to see the actual attractions in the park that are featured in the panels when we went camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in October that year. I also added another print from the Riley Blake National Parks line to fill out the rest of the back.
I had hoped to finish this in time to take a picture of the quilt in the park. Since I am just getting this (finally) completed this year, needless to say that didn't happen. We do want to visit that park again so if we do, this time I'll be ready to bring it along!
When I had finished the top and backing and layered the quilt, I decided on just simply outlining both sides of all the seams in both directions. I find quilts that are grid stitched always seem to take way longer to complete than quilts stitched with free motion motifs although it could just be the "slog factor" of it all. Additionally, because I chose to use monofilament thread on top to quilt it, at least intially I had to battle getting my Juki to establish a smooth stitching rythmn with that thread to avoid it "catching" and breaking mid stitch.
I am also really pleased with my decision to use the scrap HST cutoffs from the "flip and sew" corners of the edge units....
....to both accent the corners of the quilt top and the label area pieced into the back.
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| The quilt label will be written in here. |
I used a Hobbs Tuscany Cotton and Wool Blend batting and with all the stitching, it already has a built in "crinkly" look even before it has been washed! I already have another Jelly Roll, this time of Bonnie Sullivan's "Woolies" flannel with which I hope to make the neutral colored version.
I also have a stash of bright colored flannel leftovers from other projects so would consider cutting strips to make the bright version too!
The only downside of working on this now is that this wasn't even on my UFO list for this year. It had already been partially quilted in 2023 and 2024 and I had planned to try to finish it up with projects worked on at the end of last year. This puts me behind on the UFO I was supposed to work on this month but hopefully looking at a finished quilt should get me in the mood to try to tackle that one over the weekend.
So join me in heading back over to Quilty Girl Alycia's and see what everyone else is sharing for this week's "Finished Or Not Friday" quilt fest!
6 comments:
Looks great, Vivian!
Thank you Vireya! So glad to finally get this one done and in the can!!
That is such a cute quilt! I love the story behind it, too. And the back!!! Hopefully you'll get another trip there with your finished quilt.
Thanks Nancy! Ooh, I so hope you are right about a return trip. There is always so much to see in each National Parks that one trip is just not enough!
Oh what a pretty quilt. It looks SOOOO complicated!! but I love the plaid.woven vibe of it. and the backing - perfect!! I would love to visit that park too. What was your favorite spot?
Thank you Alycia! Actually it's not complicated at all --- just a series of rectangles at the edges and squares in the middle. The key is having a good design wall to lay it all out to get everything properly in position before sewing it together.
Hard to say what was our favorite spot in GSMNP: we did get to hike up to the Alum Cave (one of the panel attractions) but also loved the history in the homes and churches in the Cades Cove area (and got to see a live blacksmithing demo there!!). We also enjoyed touring the restored houses in what had once been a turn-of-the-century resort called Daisy Town. Oh and a must is the walk up to see the panoramic views from Clingman's Dome.
A bonus was that we also got to go to our first Bucee's in nearby Sevierville (it had just recently opened) and visit a Loge outlet store. If you go there also remember that Gatlinburg and Pidgeon Forge are right outside the western exits of the park so even more nearby attractions can be visited if you are interested (just don't try driving through either town during the midday tourist crush -- ask me how I know).
There's still more we didn't get to see in the park and more hikes we wanted to do hence why I said, it'll take more than one trip to do it all!!
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