I started this kite quilt back in 1998! I was living in Washington state then and visiting my friend in Oregon for the Sister's annual Outdoor Quilt Show. I bought a
Fon's and Porter Love of Quilting Magazine at one of the quilt shops in Bend, Oregon and this kite quilt was on the cover. I loved the quilt and wanted to make it. So when I got back home, I went to a quilt shop in town and bought all the fabrics for the kites. I wanted bright sort of whimsical colors for the kites. I bought 1/4 yard of all of them and maybe some I bought 1/2 yards (can't remember it's been so long, lol). I can remember piling up the bolts of these colorful fabrics on the counter, while the owner of the shop was helping a customer. The customer looked at my piles of fabrics and asked the owner, "What is she making"? I think she was impressed by the colorful fabric choices I made, I guess? I think I sewed the kites up quickly and some of the border pieces too. Then a few months later we were moving to New Mexico and so everything got packed up.
When we unpacked everything, I know I must have seen the start of this quilt, but maybe I wasn't as excited about it anymore, I don't remember. A few years ago I found it in my UFO pile and finished sewing the border pieces. Then it sat again for a long time. 3 years ago I decided to put it together. I added the border and quilted it. Then cut the binding strips. I even made the label, dated it 2013. I don't know what happened then. Maybe we were rearranging the rooms and it got shoved into the UFO box again? Well I found it and saw I had even pinned the label on the quilt back and only needed to sew the binding on the quilt and then embroider the kite strings on the kites to finish it. So finally I got this finished in June and had to cross out the 2013 finished date on the label (actually said May 2013) and add June 2016 instead! It's finally done and hanging up so we can enjoy it. Better late than never.
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| Ta Da! It's finally finished! |
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| Hanging in the bedroom on Mr. P's side of the bed because he loves it! |
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Congrats on finally finishing. It reminds me of my youth. My brother and I loved to fly kites. He had a 40 ft long dragon kite. It took the two of us to get it in the air. Thanks for sparking the memories.
ReplyDeleteI love that!! That background fabric is perfect! I don't feel quite so bad about how long the sweater I'm knitting is taking me... :)
ReplyDeleteit might have taken a while to complete but wow you now have a pretty spectacular quilt
ReplyDeleteyour quilt looks great and makes me smile just to look at it. its a great representation of summer and fun. I loved your story about it because I have many projects that will end up taking over a decade to finish but they DO GET DONE, eventually! Its a great lesson in taking the long view and being patient with crafts that take a lot of time to make. well done!
ReplyDeleteDaryl, I actually bought this issue of the magazine because I loved the quilt. Yours turned out great! It sure went through a journey from start to finish! Happy 4th of July weekend!
ReplyDeleteThis kite is beautiful. Is the pattern available anywhere?? Thanks
ReplyDeleteNo, the pattern was from an old magazine years ago as I mentioned.
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