it's done!

 well this part of the journey is finished....it's taken just over a year. #splendidsampler

And what a year....as I sit here finishing off the last seam to sew this together from two halves to a whole, my feelings are mixed. There have been changes and decisions made over the past year, some good some not so good....

 As I have sewn the rows together, I glimpsed favourite fabrics, some just tiny scraps, others there is some bits left over for another project, lots that were from other projects which brings back the memories of making those. 

Each block evocks memories, sometimes of what I was doing at the time I was making it, others of things happening at home, or abroad. Some blocks I really enjoyed doing, others I didn't, some blocks will be made again one day, others won't (once was enough!). 

I learnt so much from this journey, lots of new techniques, some that will be used frequently, others once is enough....I found that paper piecing is my friend when other techniques won't work...it was something I really didn't enjoy, but found myself comtemplating using it on blocks that wouldn't go together any other way, (for me). Some blocks, like the paper pieced ones were left for a few days as I was scared to do them....they looked hard! but thanks to the wonderful designers and their brilliant instructions, they weren't, they went together beautifully in most cases.
So this part of the journey is done, the next step is the quilting. Do I attempt machine quilting it myself? Do I send it to my brilliant quilting buddy to do for me? Do I hand quilt it? Well I think it will sit upon this bed for a while until I make that decision.

This journey also bought many new online friends into my world, I thank them for every encouraging comment they gave, the inspiration to continue when I felt like giving up, or couldn't make a decision of how to do my version of a block. You all made this journey an adventure we all shared.
Thank you to Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson for putting this journey together along with all the designers...again some I loved their designs before this quilt, others I have come to love their designs because of this quilt, some I had never come across before. You are all such an inspiration.

Julz