Blogger's Quilt Festival--Storm at Sea

This is my first time posting to the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I have been having such a great time checking out everyone else's posts.  Thanks to Amy for putting it all together.  Go to Amy's Creative Side to see all the other entries.  (I couldn't figure out how to get the button into my blog.)

It was easy to pick which quilt to show for the festival.  There haven't been many finishes this year, but I just completed the Storm at Sea quilt that I started in 2001!  I had been collecting fabrics in shades of blue, teal, green, aqua, and purple for quite a while, but couldn't settle on what I wanted to make.  Then I found the background fabric with sea anemones on it--that had to be a sign that it was time to make a Storm at Sea.   

I worked on this quilt on and off for a couple of years.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish it, which was the reason it kept being set aside.  Then in late 2003, I took a job that had me travelling full-time, which lasted until 2 years ago.  I was able to do some quilting on the road, but never got back to this project.

I was going through my extensive collection of UFOs at the beginning of 2012, with the goal of getting some of them finished before the end of the year.  For some reason, the Storm at Sea was the quilt that wanted to be worked on first.  

Instead of the usual large square at the center of the unit, I decided to complicate the pattern even more and make that part as a nine-patch instead.  To tell the truth, it was just a way to get more fabrics into the quilt, especially some of the lighter colored ones.   It was such a trip down memory lane to play with these fabrics again after letting them "age" for over 10 years.   At some point I figured out that there were around 3700 pieces in this quilt.  Below you can see the different units that I was making for the quilt.

The main decision still remaining on this project was the design of the pieced border.  I had originally planned on the following design, which gives a scalloped look around the outside.   

Instead, I decided to go with a row of spiky stars surrounding the center.  I like the additional background spaces, and this design brought the quilt to a better finished size for my bed.

Center section with quilt  blocks sewn together.

Quilt top finished--late May 2012

Quilted and bound, October 2012--it's finished!  

After seeing it on the bed, I decided I need to make matching pillowcases.

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats:

Finished quilt measures : 87" x 96″

Quilted by : Jan Walsh, Cat's Meow Quilting

Best Category : Bed Quilt, Professionally Quilted, Scrap Quilt

Thanks for taking a look at my quilt. Enjoy all the other fabulous inspiration at the Bloggers Quilt Festival

Julie