Plus for a Finish

Finished Modern Plus Quilt
Mission three into the James Hunt Library was a success. Laden down with newly finished quilt and iron, I confidently climbed to the fifth floor. Brent was such a gentleman to let me disrupt our weekend for a library photo shoot. He even engineered an invisible tape method to hang the heavy quilt. What a guy.

We snapped over seventy photos that gorgeous Sunday morning, and I had to FaceTime my mom just now to decide between them all. Here are our four favorites. The quilt was designed for my living room wall and hangs comfortably above the couch. It fills the room with a balance of softness and presence, and if it wasn't for the complete lack of natural light in here, I would show you just how classy and homey it feels.

The quilt is also brimming with imperfections. Wobbly seams, batting peeking out at the edges, binding stitches that went through, and plusses that don't align. That's what shows it's handmade. Some of my favorite vintage quilts have worn-through holes and faded patches, missed corners and uneven quilting. The imperfections bring it above factory-grade quilts; they make it perfect. I've been thinking of starting a linkup for Perfect Imperfections, the happy accidents, the frustrating mistakes. What do you think? Would enjoy linking up to that?

finished quilt on table

modern plus quilt with citron pop

modern plus quilt with citron pop, lovely and enough

modern plus quilt with fun citron pop in binding, lovely and enough

Mission one and the early stages of this quilt can be found here, pre-binding. And I'm so excited to link up to Finish-it-up-Friday over at CrazyMomQuilts and Show Off Saturday at SewCanShe. (Links forthcoming when those days arrive.)

Crosses

Several weeks ago in the middle of the haze of final projects, I stumbled upon a beautiful quilt by Adrianne over at little bluebell. She referenced a book called Modern Log Cabin Quilting by Susan Beal, so I quickly hastened to use my college's library in the only way I care to: ordering quilting and fabric printing and cooking books through inter-library loan. It arrived, and I joyfully walked through the now summer haze to pick it up. Laying on the grass, I decided that I too would tackle some modern cross blocks and see if it suited my fancy for a larger quilt. I was going to begin with all lime green crosses but accidentally looked at my corals and turquoises  It's a dangerous business, picking fabric. Never put more fabrics that you love on the table than you're willing to incorporate. I ended up with one cross of each color and now I have to decide. Green and coral? Coral and blue? Blue and green? What do you think?