Spring weather returned yesterday and it was cool enough to get back to work on the quilt. The top quilting is done, it is trimmed, and now it just needs the binding done! Whenever I work on a quilt, I am so happy that rotary cutters and cutting mats are a thing.
I am not a skilled quilter, although I have made several. I’m more of a plunge in and figure it out kind of quilter. I started because I love fabric, and seemed to keep acquiring it. My sister-in-law is an exceptional quilter. The red and white feathered star quilt she made as a wedding gift is a work of art. Every tiny triangle is perfect. I will never be that good or that patient, but that is okay.
I was lucky enough to see an exhibit of the Gee’s bend quilts a few years ago. Gee’s Bend is a small isolated community in rural Alabama settled by freed African American slaves. The women of Gee’s Bend used whatever materials they had, and created quilts as a way to help support their families. They used corduroy scraps from a nearby textile mill, old work shirts, leftovers. You can see some examples on this site. Seeing this exhibit made me realize that there are truly no rules when creating a quilt. It can be beautiful and symmetrical, or it can be loud and worked in patterns based on what you have available.
While someday I would like to be at the point where I can create a quilt that has perfect seams and even stitches, I know that each one I do is still a quilt. Warts and all.
alookatthelittlethings 
Fascinating quilts on your link. Looking forward to seeing your finished quilt. Haven’t had a chance to resume mine yet. Perhaps in the next couple of weeks.
I can almost never work on a quilt straight through. Sometimes it takes me years to pick up one I have started.
The Gee’s Bend quilts are so fabulous and, yes, liberating! Congrats on getting so far with your quilt–I hope we’ll see it soon. I started making quilts in the days before rotary cutters (doesn’t that make me sound ancient? Actually it wasn’t all that long ago!) and I think it’s the greatest boon to quilters ever!
I didn’t quilt before rotary cutters, but I did sew before them. I remember my mom getting “electric scissors” back in the day, but I never had much luck with them.
I love your concept of a “workhorse quilt”! Those are very needed to have around. My Mom is a big proponent of the “fold over the back as binding” method of quilt finishing. Even Mimi Dietrich whose wrote the book “Finishing School” includes this as a legitimate method to bind a quilt. I have done this one one quilt, but due to the patching of fabrics on the back,wasn’t crazy about the effect. With a backing of one solitary fabric, though, I think it looks great. Good effort getting it done!
I am so happy to hear that this is a legitimate way to finish a quilt! I do use it when I love the backing fabric and feel like it would compliment the top, but I’ve always felt a little guilty about it. No more guilt!