This project has been on the go for absolutely ages!
It's the Step Lively Quilt from Little Bits Quilting Bee by Kathreen Ricketson. I've finally finished the quilt top, after my wonderful parents-in-law took our monkeys out for the day on Bank Holiday Monday. This gave me the time I needed to change all the beds, do 4 loads of laundry, and complete the piecing of this massive top. Result!
I used a set of fat quarters that I bought at Millie Moon, and sliced into strips using my Go Baby cutting machine. I got this gizmo for my birthday a few years ago, and I'm ashamed to say that I've barely used it. I'm sure that it's one of those things that I just need a bit more crafting time to get the most out of it. I combined my rainbow of strips with a white Moda jelly roll, also from Millie Moon.
This quilt is ginormous. It's absolutely MASSIVE! About twice as big as the largest quilt I've made to date, so I have absoluetly no idea how I will quilt it. I'm planning to hand-tie it, as there's no way it's going under my sewing machine. The finished size is approx. 215cm [84in] square - larger than the space on our largest clear bit of floor. O_o One of my knitting group friends has suggested that we gather a group of friends to tie it together, as a joint activity, but I rather fear that I'm too much of a control freak to do that! I will just have to sit patiently over a series of evenings and work my way through it.
At least once it's done, this quilt should have some longevity. It's destined for one of the monkeys, and it's big enough to see her through for a good long while. She's very excited about the possibility of it being finished at some point soon, as she helped with the early stages of the piecing process.
While writing this post, a suggested link popped up in my blog editor and informed me that Kathreen Ricketson, who wrote the book this quilt comes from, died in an accident while snorkeling last year in Australia. You can read more about it here. What a sad thing to happen, and my heart goes out to her family, particularly her two children, and friends.
