Design Floor Friday - Tales of a UFO Club Finish

Welcome to another issue of Design Floor Friday!  The saga of this quilt began in April 2018 and continued through LAST WEEK!!  It fought me every step of the way.  You may have seen the pictures near the end of THIS POST.  Alas, it is done.

Here's one shot as a reminder:

It went from this stage to a completed quilt in the span of a week, but getting it to that stage to ages.  Absolute AGES!!!  Can you say creative block?  I had it in a BIG way.

Anyway, I was busy loading the quilt a couple of weeks ago:

With the Cuddle fabric loaded, it was time to add the batting and quilt top:

The semi-custom freehand quilting went fairly quickly:

Until a thunderstorm and flash flooding shut down production:

Once the storm passed, I was back on track for a FINISH:

And then I got stuck on the lettering for adding the names...

First, I tried permanent marker on t-shirt material:

Thought about free-cutting the letters, but decided against it.  After that, I was ready to give up!!  Alas, that wasn't an option.

Next...

I measured, cut, and carefully inked the appropriate characters.  

Then...

There was some additional stitching to secure the hand lettered patches:

My RSC Quilter friends will notice some Bright BLUE highlighted as a nod to the Color of the Month.  NO Light BLUE in THIS quilt per a request from the bride!!  

The last step was squaring up and binding:

Sewn to the back...

... And stitched down on the front:

Viola'!!  I present the completed quilt:

~60 x 86

I've been showing it off in ALL of my various quilting groups.  My favorite comments were...

"Oh, Joy!  I think this is your best one yet."

To which others replied...

"You say that about EVERY one of of Joy's Tee Quilts!"

The cozy backing and the 4.8 pound quilt:

Now, all that remains is getting this very special quilt to the happy couple BEFORE their 1st wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks.  YIKES!!  Nothing like cutting it SEW close to the wire.

Sharing with TGIF Friday!

@ Alycia Quilts

and

Whooping it Up with Sarah

@ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Until next time...

Quilting: A labor of LOVE!!!