my Modern Medallion Quilt

At last.... it's done!  And I have to say looking back at all the many hours I poured into designing and piecing and hand stitching and hand quilting this quilt - I wouldn't take any of them back.  I just love it to pieces.  And I feel grateful from my whole heart for the opportunity to teach the class from which this quilt emerged.  There's something about designing for others that really fuels and motivates me and pushes me to do my best work.  So a big thanks to ALL of you who read this blog.  Creating in community means a whole lot to me.

Today is the last day of Handstitched Class.  Students are busy making and stitching away on their Modern Medallions, many of which you can see over here at the Stitched in Color Flickr group.  This quilt is one we added to week by week as the class developed and we covered many different hand stitching arts.  I'm very proud of their work and sometimes in awe of it.  I hope to do a "favorites" post soon to share with you some glimpses of their lovelies.

In the meantime, here's a few shots from this summer to show how my Modern Medallion developed..

Today, I'm celebrating this big finish and also hoping to encourage my students to push through.  Hand quilting a quilt of this size is time-consuming for sure.  And, in this case we're not kidding around since there's a large 6" wide solid border for a special round of pretty.

I worked an orange peel design flanked by two rows of color on either side.  This was my favorite part of the hand quilting as the complex design completely held my attention.  Still, I can't say that I'm not glad to be done.  I love the satisfaction of finishing... and I do have another handwork project that's been eagerly waiting in the wings.

Thanks to all the many whom I've learned from in the online community and thanks to those I've had the pleasure of teaching.  Each thing of handmade beauty any one of us makes is a gift from a long tradition of making that's gone before us.  It's a pleasure and privilege to be part of this perfectly delightful stream!