My flower garden quilt is finished

This is what I had under my needle on the weekend.  I finally got around to uploading the pictures. 

This is my flower garden quilt.  I wrote all about the pattern and the making of it, throughout my blog.    I started it as far back as January/2013, finished the top in 2014, and I am just now getting it quilted.

I really enjoyed making this quilt. I loved the hand stitch work that is involved in the blocks, that make up the gardens.  Plus a few appliqué blocks.  I also ready liked taking the original pattern into a different direction.  Starting with enlarging the quilt, adding in some flying geese, moving blocks around, adding some additional borders around the blocks.  All sorts of things.

I'd have to say that this is probably my most cherished quilt.  It is completely outside of what I usually do.  Maybe that is why I like it so much.

My biggest worry was how to quilt it.  With all the hand work embroidery involve I was not sure how to treat those blocks.  The other day I read two separate Facebook posts from different people about what they have done recently.  

The first one was about stitching right over the embroidery.  Now, I will be honest with you, at first I cringed.  I thought to myself, yuck that will make a mess of all my hard work.  But I read on.  There were a lot of comments generated from that post.  Some for and some against it.  When the author of the post decided to show pictures of stitching it over the work, I think a lot of people that were against it, debunked and went over to the other side.  Myself included.

The post opened up my mind to another possibility, but I was not quite sold on the idea for my precious garden quilt.  It was not until I saw the second post from someone who was talking about a great thread she used, that when sewn over multiple fabrics, seems to chance colour, and blends in with the fabric.  It was a 60 weight Glade cream coloured thread.  I used the same colour she used, but in a 40 weight thread and I found it blended very well too.

To make a long story short, in the end, I decided to go for it.  The top had been sitting completed since 2014.  It was now or never.  Once I decided I was going for it, I quickly loaded up the quilt, so I wouldn't chicken out.  Though, instead of the famous cream I chose to use the Bone thread colour, as it blended better with my white embroidery blocks.  I used champagne coloured thread in the bobbin.

This is the design I chose to quilt on it.  The design is an edge to edge pantograph from Urban Elementz, called Feather Grande by Bethanne Nemesh.  I love the feminine feel to the design.  

The picture above is the backing and the picture below is part of the front.  This design adds a lot of texture and with the Hobbs 80/20 you get that little bit of puff.  I'm liking it!

Just to show you too, that the quilting did not ruin the embroidery, here is a picture if one block.  If you take a close up look at the block, you can hardly see the thread going over the embroidery at all.  Most of the block looks like it was embroidered after the quilting was done.  The white background of the blocks really shows the design of the quilting better too.

I am really loving this quilt.  Now I have to trim the edges and put the binding on.  When the binding is done, I will try and remember to take a picture of the whole quilt completed.

Sorry for the lengthy post.  Have a great day!!!