Summer Solstice Finished!!! (in winter ;)

Yippee, Hooray, and Whoopee!!!!!  I am so excited to be sharing my Finished Summer Solstice Quilt today!!!!   And I even managed to get it done before Christmas :)

Just in case you are new friend, this Summer Solstice quilt is the Quilt Along that I hosted this past summer.  Each of the posts for the Quilt-A-Long will always be on my blog.  You can follow these links to walk you through each step week-by-week on how to make your own Summer Solstice Quilt , just in case you want to make your own.

Teaser Post
Intro, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes Announcement

Cutting

 Flying Geese

Half Square Triangles

Drunkard Path

Building Blocks
 Piecing Top and Grand Prize Linky

 Summer Solstice Parade and Grand Prize Winners

There were so many amazing folks quilting along with me and it was so fun to see all of your gorgeous finishes, and I am just so happy to finally be adding mine to the finished group!!!

This was such a fun quilt to piece!!!  I love making giant blocks because they just pop!!!   And I know it sounds a little crazy, but I really did love putting together all of those curved pieces.  The first few were a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, they are pretty fun.  (at least, I think they are pretty fun ;)

This quilt is for my little brother and his wife, and even though I won't be able to deliver it for Christmas (they live in SL) I can say that I finished it in time for Christmas, and hey, that counts for something right ;)   My SIL  picked the fabrics, followed the progress of the qal while I was piecing, and then got super excited when I posted on instagram that it was on the long arm ;)   And now, these pics can be a few days early Christmas present.  Yippee!!!!  

When it came time to quilt, I had lots and lots of fun with lots and lots of custom quilting!!!   For the background I quilted small swirls in the sashing, echoed paisleys in the corners of the block, pebbles in the corners of the star, and a giant swirl in the center of the star.   Isn't that just so super yummy!!!

And then on the prints, I quilted wavy lines on the star so they would look like "rays", echoed scallops on the star border, and echoed arches on the corner points.   With all that small quilting in the background, I wanted to do something a little simpler on the prints so I just played with changing the basic lines and I love how it makes the prints pop all the more ;)

And then on the border, I swallowed my fear of feathers and went for it!!!   And I have to say, I am so excited with how it turned out!!!  I am still totally learning feathers, (I practiced  when my little ones wanted me to join them in sidewalk chalk fun this this summer )  but doing a giant one around the entire border really cemented it in.   They are not perfect by any means, but that is what practice is for, right :)

It took a while to do all of that yummy custom quilting, especially as this quilt is a monster King size :)  But it was so totally worth it.  It just adds so much yummy textures and all of the different quilting motifs just help to emphasize the fun quilt design.  So fun!!!!

And just in case you are wondering, I was totally laughing the whole time I was taking pictures at the fact that it was Snowing while I photographed a Summer Solstice quilt.   Too funny!!!

And that is my finished Summer Solstice Quilt Along Quilt!!!   And I am so, so, so happy with the finish!!!   Thanks again to everyone that quilted along with me, as that is what makes this quilt so special.  Even while writting this, I keep thinking of everyone that pieced along with me all summer and how much fun that was.  So thank you so very much!!!!

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Weekend with a Merry Christmas thrown in there as well!!

Linking up to Amanda's, Sarah's, and Myra's ;)