Last September I joined my two best blog buddies, Thelma and Nicole, in Illinois to take some classes from the fabulous Carrie Nelson. I started two large quilts - Ashcombe and Route 44 - and one Schnibbles quilt, Darcy. I finished Darcy (not that big of a feat because it's a Schnibbles, it's tiny!) and Route 44. Only time will tell if I finish Ashcombe. I'm not loving the fabrics I chose. Maybe I should recut and make one like Thelma's, which I absolutely adore.
I did, however finish Route 44, which I made using a stash of old Amy Butler fabrics that I very nearly let go in my stash sale last summer. Thankfully I kept looking at the pile and thinking how pretty they were and using them really made this quilt work for me. I added a frosted dot from Lakehouse Fabrics as the setting and borders.
One of our fellow students in the Route 44 class was LeAnne Olson, a longarm quilter who's name I have seen in quilting magazines. I asked for her card, thinking that having a machine quilter who also made this quilt right along with me would be a great way to bring this project full circle.
LeAnne gave me permission to use her beautiful photographs. It's been so dreary in the Seattle area that any time the clouds have parted enough to allow a photograph, I'm at work! So here are some shots of my quilt - one of the Amy Butler fabrics was a random stripe with all the colors from the prints, and it made the perfect binding for this quilt.
Not only do I love the beauty of this quilt, it is priceless to me because of all the fond memories it evokes of my trip and friends (new and old).
I'll be back soon with pictures of my (finally) finished Pinochle quilt top!
