WE ARE...

I figured since the last post was about a quilt in progress, I'd post a picture of one I'd actually finished.

It should be noted that this quilt took me a year and a half to complete!  I'm not sure if the pattern was incorrect or if I made a mistake reading it, but I would get frustrated and toss it into a drawer, not to look at it again for a couple months.

The pattern is called "My Corner of the Universe" and I originally found it on Etsy, but it seems that now you can only find it here.  The spot in the center of Pennsylvania is State College, the home of my alma mater, the superfantastic Penn State University.

The pattern calls for 20 shades of gradated blues.  I was looking for shades of navy, but it was impossible to find that much fabric between Jo Ann's and quilt shops.  Plus, I didn't like having to buy fabrics with different patterns.

My quilt teacher suggested I get hand-dyed fabric.  I found a FABULOUS Etsy store called Ruby Mountain Dye Works.  I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to work with Karen.  She's awesome at messaging you back and helps you figure out just exactly what colors you're looking for.  What we ended up working out were 15 shades of navy/indigo that I was able to edit the pattern to use.  I'm currently discussing black and gold shades with her now.  I plan on editing the pattern to reflect Pittsburgh.

So here it is, the finished product.  It became a Christmas present for my brother-in-law & sister-in-law.  I had originally machine stitched the binding, but it didn't look very nice at all.  I ended up ripping out those stitches and hand sewed it.  The end result was perfect!  I attached tabs at the top as well for hanging.

(By the way, if you didn't know, the response to "WE ARE..." is "...PENN STATE!")