Gift Quilt Finally Finished

Hi everyone:

Do you have UFO's lurking in your studio? I have a few many of these in my drawers, draped across my not-being-used-at-the-time sewing machine and in boxes. I have so many of these that I sometimes forget that I have a certain project still not completed. While I often feel guilty about my non-completion issues, occasionally it is a good thing - like when you need a gift for someone and one of those UFO's would be perfect for them!

Recently my mother celebrated her 80+ birthday, very close to Mother's Day. So what could be better than a two-for-one? While I did send her flowers for her birthday, she didn't know that there was also a parcel full of quilty goodness on her way to her as well (along with the Mother's Day card that I somehow neglected to send on time).

I had started Hummingbird Sipper many years ago in a class at My Sewing Room in Calgary. It's a beautiful stained glass look pattern by Bear Paw Productions, but it is time consuming to complete. After you appliqué the pieces to the background, every raw edge is finished with fusible bias binding - and then both sides of the binding are stitched down. I worked on this project for quite some time, but then, as usually happens with me, something else caught my eye and Hummingbird Sipper was relegated to a box in my storage area. Until I needed a gift for my mom's birthday. 

Flower detail on Hummingbird Sipper

The appliqué was already done and the fusible binding had been appliquéd to all the edges. Some of the binding around the appliqué edges had been stitched down, but the majority of it still had to be done. So I started on this first. Once the binding edges were all stitched down I had to add a hanging sleeve. That didn't take too long. Then I had to make the binding. That took a bit longer. Then I thought that I really needed to put a label on this quilt. Done! Finally, I had to bind the entire quilt and hand stitch it to the back. This is my least favourite part of quilting, but actually goes quicker than I always think it will. The good part about this project is that it is quilted as you stitch down the binding around the appliqué pieces, so at least I didn't have to quilt it. I might've lost interest again if I had to quilt it on top of all the other parts of the project that I had to complete!

Detail of back showing stitching on both sides of the fusible bias binding

I was pleased with the final project and found it hard to give away, but knew that my mom would appreciate it. 

Hummingbird Sipper completed

There are hummingbirds around my parent's patio in the summer that she enjoys watching and I think that this hummingbird will remind her of the real ones in the cold winter months.

Hummingbird Sipper bird detail