An old-fashioned finish

The rain has finally stopped!  Okay, it has stopped for now, because it's going to rain again this weekend,  but we have had enough of a respite to cut the grass, plant some new plants, clear away the broken branches, and generally breathe again.  The sunshine has been wonderful, and that grass was getting really, really tall.  Better weather makes you feel human again.  And, you know, it's nice that some of the mud is gone, too.

The beautiful weather for the last couple of days also let me take some pictures of a great finished quilt (if I do say so myself!)  Here is the finish that has me seriously smiling:

Whoo-hoo! This is a quilt I just can't stop calling Grandma's Quilt.  I started this long ago as a project for RSC16, finished the top in January, and now it is a cozy, finished quilt.

I love this quilt so much.  The block is the modern version of a block made by my great grandmother, which is one of my most treasured possessions.  (If you're interested, a tutorial for the block is HERE.)  The blocks are each 12 inches and are made with hand-dyed fabrics from Vicki Welsh, except for the white, which is all a basic Kona white.  After I took these pictures, which involve dirt and nature, I washed the quilt and not a single one of the hand dyes ran.  Not one! Not even the burgundy block.  I wouldn't buy hand dyes from anyone else.

The backing for this quilt is a vintage sheet, which turned out to be a great backing!  The colors are perfect with the top and it is so soft and cozy.  The binding is very narrow in a pale blue, mostly because that's all the fabric I had left.  The quilt finished up at just about 75 by 86.

Grandma's Quilt was quilted by Diane Minkley, and she did a fabulous job!  The simple feather is kind of old-fashioned and modern at the same time.  It really shows up well because I used wool batting, which is very light and very warm.  I hand-stitched the binding to the back of the quilt and I had to lay the quilt on the coffee table instead of on my lap because it was so warm.  Wool quilt in summer equals heat stroke, I think.

I could literally weep when I look at this quilt.  There's a real difference between having the top finished and having the quilt finished, and finally having it finished makes me feel like I have honored my great-grandmother and made something she would be happy with.  Gosh, that's sappy, isn't it?  I think she would get it, though.

Now that I have finished this one, I'm going to relax all weekend, when it will be raining yet again.  It's Memorial Day weekend in the US, so we'll be going to the parade and then breaking in our new grill.  Burgers on the deck!  We may also go check out some tall ships if the weather allows.  I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend as well!

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday, crazymomquilts, and soscrappy for RSC18.