Finished Quilt for a friend

I have made many quilts and given most of them away, a few were for commissions.  Sometimes it takes me ages to finish a quilt.  I have friends that I have made quilts for, and some friends that have patiently waited years for their turn to receive.  I imagine some of them are tapping their feet pretty impatiently, without nagging me.  I hear this 'Oh, that's a pretty quilt for that baby.' 'Sigh'.  And I know they are thinking 'hello, what about me?'  

One friend gets to stop waiting now.

These were bee blocks from awhile ago that I didn't really have a plan for at the time.  It came to me as I was putting the blocks together that this quilt would be perfect for someone I knew.  And when I showed my Mom and told her who it was for, she said that the quilt did remind her of that person.  That felt good.  

The quilting took far longer to start than I anticipated and then it took almost a week longer to complete than I had hoped, but it's done now, washed, given a tryout on the sofa, and looks very pretty.

It was pretty windy while I was trying to take photos, so I ended up laying it out on the table, and then thought I would like it as a table cloth, if it didn't have batting.  Maybe something for the future.  

The fabrics are Joel Dewberry, Kona solids, and Kaffe Fassett shot cottons.  I hadn't used the shot cottons for awhile, even though I have quite a stack of the pretties.  They become so soft after washing.  I found 3 yards of a fabric I had bought years ago with the intention of using it for backing on something; and it happened that it went perfectly with the colors of this quilt.  I don't buy fabric randomly for backing anymore, this one has been sitting for years.  Now I wait for the quilt then purchase the backing.  I had to add a bit of Kona and another print to make the backing large enough.

I quilted straight lines and echos inside the solid triangles.  I do know how to FMQ, but a lot of times I just like the quilting to follow the pattern of the blocks.  

I think she is going to like this.  

Keep Calm and Quilt On!

Mary