Better Landmark Quilt for Me

OK, I know I published a picture of a quilt I made recently--one based on Baltimore blocks. However, I wasn't happy with the way it looked and wasn't really looking forward to showing it to my group at the local quilt shop. I took it to the Houston International Quilt Festival with me to show Amy and she didn't like the look of it either. She told me what was the matter with it--the blocks between the Baltimore blocks detracted from the handwork I had done on the Baltimore blocks. Yep, that's what was wrong with it--but it was already completely sewn--everything was done except for the quilting. She said I could rip it apart and redo it. Say what? Yep, that's what she said. She said it again--and reminded me that I didn't really like how it looked either. I said I probably would give it to the Goodwill or some such, and she said it would be a real shame because of all the months I worked on the appliques. She said I SHOULD rip it apart and redo it. Mercy! Well, I sat down very early on Sunday morning at her house and started unpinning, folding the backing and the batting, then I started on the outer border--ripping one stitch at a time... Torture, for sure. I can't believe it, but I actually did some other things that day. I did some things in the kitchen with Karie, played with Buttercup, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher--but still by about 10:00 pm I unstitched the last stitch. My poor aching hands, back, arms, eyes, everything! Really...

Amy had a good idea of what would look great, and I had to admit it sounded wonderful. So, on Monday, Amy and I went to her local quilt shop and shopped. I found some great fabrics and spent the rest of the day designing, laying it out on graph paper, cutting the new fabrics, and doubting the process mightily.

Impossible! On Tuesday I sewed the new blocks together, then laid the whole thing out on the floor--with Buttercup's help, of course--she had many suggestions for improvements (smile), and then I started sewing. By the end of the day, it was completely re-made and I LOVED it. Everything I didn't like before was remedied--Amy was absolutely right about the whole thing. Now this is my Landmark quilt top--my Baltimore. You can compare it to the picture in the previous "Landmark Quilt" post. I love this!!!