Nat Quilt

This is my first true labour of love in the world of quilting. It was begun in January 2002 as a portable project to complete by hand. I had never done any hand work before, no piecing, no applique, nothing. I had bought the book by Brenda Papadakis at my (then) local guild meeting, mainly because it was the only book there I had heard of. I got discouraged because there were no instructions.... but needed to find something to tackle by hand, so I selected some fabrics and totally botched up a few blocks.
I bought (well, hubby bought me) Linda Franz's Quilted Diamonds book, and it changed my life. (And gave me another project!). All of a sudden I was able to piece blocks and have them come out the right size!
Jinny Beyer has a different approach in her book Quiltmaking by Hand, but it's equally fabulous in instructing the hand sewer.

The blocks are all supposed to be 4 1/2 inches finished. Mine are all in the ballpark. *grin*

Here's the "famous" corner where all of us nutters worldwide place our names and details.... all because the original lady, Jane A. Stickle, did so for her quilt back in 1863. It's my first (and probably last) attempt at embroidery - I did NOT enjoy it!
As you can see, I ended up using 5385 pieces of fabric in my quilt top - this counts reverse appliqued blocks as 2 pieces (even though they end up as more when the back is cut) and the scalloped borders as single long pieces, even though they appear to be individual arcs. I discovered that scalloped edges are only for crazy people. I may or may not use them in the Baltimore!!!

And the label, stenciled, scribbled upon and bordered in a rust coloured ribbon:

Photos online don't do hand quilting justice. Trust me, it's brilliant!
(Well, if you factor in that I have never hand quilted before and I'm comparing it to my previous work....)

NEWS!!!!

I won a "Highly Commended" for this quilt at the 2008 Vic Quilters' Showcase! First Time Entrant Category.
The judges particularly liked my colour selection, the quilting (I told you it was good!!) and the binding.
Here's the quilt hanging in the show with its big white ribbon and some not-so-random people standing in front:

If you are into self-torture, you can see my virtual design wall (the old WIP page for this project), which has links to close-up photos of each block, along with details as to how and when they were made, and what I was up to at the time. A pseudo-blog, started before blog was even a word....
There are the details of when I announced my first pregnancy to the world (block D9 Uncle Richard) and when I announced the safe arrival of son #1 (block H10 Ben's bowtie) as well as many other riveting things like the afternoon where Ben napped for about 4 hours - lots of blocks that day!!
There is also a list of the order in which I completed the blocks - easy ones at first, then dabbling into the more challenging ones, then going for the completed rows.
The debate over whether or not to attempt the triangles is there (I believe). Wasn't much of a debate - clearly I did them!

My mother claims full credit for the production and completion of this quilt (May 18 2008 - discussion at her house).
Not the standard "You wouldn't exist if it weren't for me" stuff, but because she convinced me to try my hand at patchworking in the first place!
Those who have met her will understand *grin*.

I will give her credit for this quilt, but the Baltimore is all mine.
I wonder if she will read this.....

	A Stitch in Time: Dear Jane Quilt (Natalie earns the coveted quilting title of "Goddess")
	Dimensions: 83" x 83"
	Completed: May 2008 (6 1/4 years of work - but I took off some time in there to produce 2 humans, one of whom went through a phase of charging around the house armed with textas, so no quilting then!)
	Method: Hand pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted.