Final Finish for 2012

...just in time for Finish It Up Friday with crazy mom quilts!

I fell in love with EPP (English Paper Piecing) Rose Star Blocks.  I made a lot of them!  Each one was so much fun to pick out fabrics for!  I am not a huge fan of sewing these by hand...I love the look, but I figured out how to cut templates for machine piecing them.  Having a good feel for "Y" seams is very important.  You can find more Rose Star Blocks that are EPP on flickr.

The first one was started on January 21st, 2012!

Here it is, December 28th, 2012...and I can say I've finished up the block piecing and joining part of the quilt.  This was an "on again-off again" relationship!  I worked on joining the blocks on and off through the year.  There were times I was very discouraged and just folded it up and put it back for when I wanted to work on it again.  I decided to get it out over the Christmas holidays to see if I could finish it up.  I'm so glad I did!  Once I started, the work went fast and easy and was perfect for sewing on in between Christmas activities and slow days post 25th.

My helper elves (Ben and Chris) helped me capture this in some weak, morning light in our kitchen. 

There are a total of eighteen blocks joined together by a soft, white muslin.  I'm working on making it a twin size quilt for snuggling and cuddling up with a good book (or iPad mini e-book).  Now comes the hard part of deciding what fabric (s) to use as borders, what the back will look like and the ever perplexing question of "how do I quilt this?"

I don't know that I have a favorite because each one I pieced became my "new" favorite block!  Hubs and Javi like the deep red, rose fussy cut one.  It is such a happy mix of some of my favorite fabrics and colors.  There's even some vintage fabric in there, which always makes me happy!

Thanks for joining me through the year and sharing a love of sewing and quilting with me!  I have "met" so many people, made friends, learned so much and been encouraged by the projects you've shared with me.

Blessings for 2013!