Splendid Sampler/Hawaiian quilt mashup

I’ve never worked this long on a quilt. It’s almost two years. The first year was because the blocks were released weekly, so I went along with that schedule. Then I decided to combine the 6″ with 18″ hand applique Hawaiian blocks, and that is taking a long time.It has been so long, I don’t remember if I have shared this image. So many people are posting their completed samplers. Each one I see reminds me why I don’t want to simply make a sampler out of 100 disparate blocks – the question is, have I achieved more cohesion this way?

Slow hand sewing, there is something very relaxing about this.Am I getting any better at this needle-turn applique? I must be, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Then I have to remind myself, no one will be looking as closely at these blocks as I am. So stop stressing and enjoy the process.Then the question becomes, am I overwhelming the smaller blocks with these large applique ones? Maybe, there will be more small ones on the front, although I think most of them will end up on the back of the quilt.I do enjoy seeing real shapes emerge from blobs.  Some of these blocks have very high contrast, others don’t.My final decision for the top is to make two half squares of applique for the top and bottom and fill in the spaces with a few more of the sampler blocks. I will probably add a solid border all around and then I have to make some serious decisions about the quilting.

This means I’m almost there with the top. I’ve started one of the half squares, now that I can see an end in sight with the applique, I will finish that soon. I certainly hope to have this finished before two years (Feb 2018).  This has become the quilt I work on in the background, many new shiny projects jump in and grab my time and attention.