Mitford in Spring

My Stars Over Mitford is finished and ready to cover my bed, Yes, this one is a keeper. It began as a project to use up my abundant supply of Civil War fabrics. And you know how that goes. It hardly made a dent, which is okay because I really love those old calico prints and colors. I hope they never go out of style. (as long as we keep asking for them, right?)

This block is similar to several sew-along designs I have found online. It was what motivated me to get it out of the box and finish it. It began as a project perhaps 5 years ago (?) all because I am a big fan of Jan Karon's Mitford series. I even have her cookbook! So you see, there is a lot to love about this quilt!

 

My favorite part of making scrappy quilts is pulling fabrics together that contrast and compliment. A lot of surprises happen there and we kind of develop our own taste and skill for selecting fabrics as we progress, I think. I make a point to work randomly as well which is what I did in the arranging of the blocks in this quilt. I simply put them up on the design wall as I finished them.

While I was near completely sewing the blocks and sashing together, I remembered a tin I had stored away of Civil War 5" charms. My original intent was to sew these together into quarter sewn triangle blocks. I had many already completed but had put them away as I lost interest. 

So I was delighted to find that they fit into a perfect border along the outside of this quilt. I had to sew in a few "spacers" at the corners to make them fit but it blends well enough and doesn't draw too much attention as an after-thought. (The feather pictured is for a future project. It was sharing the design wall at the time.) I think I had to dig in the stash for a few charm squares to complete the borders, but otherwise the bulk of them were already done. Bonus blocks I'd say!

The quilting was done by my friendly Long-Arm Quilter in a Paisley Feather design. And for the backing I used some yardage of brown border fabric. The label sewn in the corner is from a simple orphan block, framed with muslin for easy writing of signature. The binding was some leftover background fabric saved for just this purpose. It has all worked together to a fine finish. Thank you Pat Speth for your lovely pattern. 

 

So I can claim this as a finish. She measures 93" x 93" and I busted a whopping 16.5 yards of stash!  

I hope this has inspired you to finish a project that is sitting in a box on your shelf. Sometimes they make the best stories as you make additions and alter your original plans. Time can do that. 

Now it is time to make a Hummingbird Cake to celebrate.

Happy Stitching!