Endless Horizons

I absolutely love this quilt - Endless Horizons - and finished putting the binding on last night while watching the Brewers win against the White Sox (unfortunately, today was not a repeat).

I know I didn't post anything about it as I made progress, but the quilt went along quite quickly and I was working on other things too, so figured I'd just save it as a surprise. I bought the kit at the Cherrywood Fabrics booth at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last October. The pattern is by Karla Overland and uses one of Cherrywood's gradations, in this case, the North Shore bundle. I discovered in March when I initially wanted to start this project that the kit did not include all of the fabric that was supposed to be a part of the kit; I wrote Cherrywood and explained the situation and they got the missing fabric out to me right away. I really was impressed with their customer service and that they sent the fabric, no questions asked.

The quilt was so easy to make because the pieces that make up the central part of the quilt were all cut freehand from the fat quarter bundle and then they were laid out in an overlapping fashion on a muslin foundation and sewn down with thread. So they are raw-edge, but I'm not terribly worried about it, as I don't intend for this piece to get a lot of wear and need lots of washing. I quilted the quilt following the same lines as the central portion of the piece and extending them out into the borders, drawing at least a rough placement in advance with my Clover chalk wheel. Honestly, where would I be without that tool? I can't believe that I didn't know about it for probably half of my quilting life. I use it so often now that I'd be lost without it.

I'll admit that I quilted this top and bottom with Bottom Line thread in a medium brown color (Yes, it's polyester. Oh well. I loved the way it looked, it was on hand, and did not require that I go out to buy more. Keep in mind, I was on a roll and did not want to stop.) An added benefit is that I have enough leftovers from the central part of the quilt that I may at some point make another version of this. We'll see. I love how one project can morph into 2 or 3, depending on how many leftovers you have and what form they take. (I also gained a project out of my Just Before Dawn quilt, which may or may not be finished in time for Christmas.)

I can't wait to hang this piece, but I'm torn. The perfect place to hang it in the house currently features a patriotic quilt that I hate to put away before the 4th of July. What to do, what to do?