A-Mazing Abundance . . . . .

All Done!!

I've finished piecing my project from my Carrie Nelson Chicago Class #3....for some reason I started on the last class project and am working backwards...The pattern is Ashcombe, the name comes from a hedge maze in Australia....I do think this pattern has a maze look to it, so I named my quilt A-Mazing Abundance....because of the maze design and because that Simple Abundance fabric, by Bonnie and Camille for Moda, is simply amazing....

As I mentioned to several folks already, I would not have made this pattern had it not been a class project. I am so glad I did not pass it up. This pattern is only limited by your sense of adventure. It can be large, small, or any size in the middle, and I can't imagine any fabric used in this setting not looking wonderful. It could be a real stash buster too.

When I first threw all my blocks on my design wall, the green really stood out. I was wanting the focus to be more on the red side, but during one of our classes, Carrie mentioned that when a color doesn't work in a quilt, don't take it out, add more....so I did, and oddly enough, I think that really did the trick!

At this point, I contemplated adding a red containment border. Carrie also mentioned that whatever color you use in the borders of your quilt, will bring focus to that color in the center of your quilt. I was really wanting to focus on the red. But when I put a strip of red fabric on my design wall, I just didn't like the looks of it, so I dropped that idea and stayed with Carrie's pieced outer border.

I did make one, itsy bitsy change, the pattern called for a 4 patch block in the corner of the outer border......

Since all the 4 patches in the center of the quilt were floating in the background fabric, I decided to to the same for the corner.

So here's Carrie's Ashcombe cover quilt,

made with Simple Abundance.

And here's mine.

This is lifetime quilt number sixty.

This quilt has approximately 813 pieces,

and finished at 68" x 78".

I think this will be one of my all time favorite quilts. First, because the quilt's charm came as such a total surprise to me. But also, it will always remind me of the wonderful time I had on my trip, the great new friends I made, and the old friends who became even dearer to me.

Thanks Prairie Star Quilters Guild for sponsoring this class!! I hope to hear from my fellow classmates and see their finished projects!!