the longest quilt

 i started this quilt over ten years ago.  well over ten years ago.  i got all the blocks cut own and sewn together in long strips, and even got some of the strips sewn together when i put it in a bag, and forgot all about it. 

 i ran into it again when we moved into the new house.  that was over a year ago.  did i start working on it then?  no, of course not! 

 i think my mom inspired me to pull it out and work on it; last week she mentioned an afghan she had started sometime in the 90's and how she found it in the hall closet and had a friend help her remember the stitch (it's crochet, and we normally knit), and how it was now almost done. 

you can tell this is an early quilt of mine in a few ways, one of them being that at the time i was pretty obsessed with asian fabrics.  most of this was imported, and kind of pricey.  the other thing you can tell is that overall, my sense of color wasn't that great.  i didn't have a good grasp on light and dark color values, and this is all pretty "matchy," although it is still very pretty.  if the fabric you're working with is lovely, there isn't much you can do to distract from that.  i think if i had made it now, it would "pop" a bit more. 

today i pulled it out, ironed the hell out of it, and finished putting it together.  then my stepdaughter and i went to joann's fabrics and picked out a nice, all cotton navy blue to do the border and back with.  it won't end up being a quilt, though.  it's going to be a duvet cover for one of the hundreds of comforters we have.  seriously, when i married D, i brought a ridiculous amount of blankets into a house that had it's own treasure trove.  when this family lounges, we LOUNGE.  this will look great on our downstairs couch, and if i didn't have to wash and dry the fabric before using it, i wouldn't even be writing this post, i'd be busy sewing!  i can't even tell you how much fun i had today sewing.  it felt so good to get that part of my nook cleared out and listen to podcasts and just sew away.  i probably spent a good three hours in my room goofing off, and it was wonderful.  i'll have to do more of that, obviously.