Saturday, May 09, 2026

A finished quilt!

It's not very often I get to celebrate a finished quilt since I have so many projects in various stages of completion. But today I have a special finish to share!

This is one of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts called Chilhowie started in November of 2022. It was during the throws of covid lockdowns when this project was started and I did not want to shop for any of the fabrics. So I used scraps from my stash and sorted them by value (not colour).



I finished my quilt top in September 2023 and then it sat in my UFO closet. My friends Annie and Lynn finished their quilts and donated them to my guild's community comfort project and they are gorgeous quilts.  Annie made her quilt the size that the original pattern was with 16 blocks, and Lynn made hers a bit smaller with 12 blocks. My version is even smaller using 9 blocks, and the finished size is 59" x 59".


It's always amazing how quilts can be made from the same pattern and yet look so different!

This is a photo of one of the blocks in my quilt. The predominant red fabric is an old Kaffe Fassett fabric called Millifiore and I barely had enough of it to finish the 9 blocks and have a bit left for the corner pieces and some of the binding. You can see how scrappy the blocks are! When I was sewing the blocks together I called it "the hot mess express" wondering if this was even worth the effort to sew! But it magically turned out to be a great scrap quilt!


My quilt top was donated to the guild and was quilted by Becky Fiedler on her domestic machine using a fun swirly design. Can you see the quilted circles and the texture it has on the back of the quilt? So fun!


Then I happily received the quilt back to put the binding on and I had the opportunity to revisit the wonderful variety of scraps in this quilt as I stitched on by. Those border blocks used up sooo many scraps!





Can you see the variety of reds in the binding? It was such a pleasure to use up so many scraps and to see this quilt to the finish line! It has inspired me to move more projects toward completion before I start the guild's summer mystery project (and maybe I should finish last summer's mystery first?!?!) 😜

10 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

it turned out great and I love a scrappy binding you put in so many lovely colors they blend really well. I have only made one of Bonnie's quilts it's been a long time now.

Fiber Babble said...

Congratulations on finishing that amazing quilt! I love your color choices and the little surprises here and there. Nice work on a BIG job!

The Cozy Quilter said...

Amazing how each of these beautiful quilts looks so different! I love your scrappy version. You really nailed the value instead of colour goal!

Gretchen Weaver said...

Your quilt is so nice! I'm amazed at the quilting Becky did with her domestic sewing machine! I stick to straight lines with my machine. Happy stitching & Happy Mother's Day!

maggie fellow said...

wonderful finish

Chantal said...

Congrats, Kathy! It's such a wonderful quilt that now I want one too. I keep all the steps of Bonnie's mystery every year. I need to see the quilt before committing to it. Chilhowie didn't speak to me that year, but now that I see it all scrappy like this, I believe it is calling my name, lol. In anyways, yours is fabulously gorgeous. Bravo! ;^)

Kathy S. said...

Congrats on your beautiful finish. It is amazing how wonderful and versitile Bonnie Hunter scrap quilt projects are. I love them all. Happy binding today -- Happy Mother's Day

Kate said...

Congrats on a wonderful finish. I remember your scrappy version, you definitely made it work. I just started quilting my version of Chilhowie. Fingers crossed I'll be able to bind it by the end of the month.

Vicki in MN said...

Whoot, whoot, congrats on a big job well done. Gotta love all those scraps put to good use.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Congrats!! that is an amazing finish!! Such a pretty quilt!