City Sampler Quilt Along :: Finally Unlocked

The most logical place for a photoshoot of a finished City Sampler quilt is of course the city.

But as lovely a day as it was at Kerry Park on Seattle's Queen Anne Hill, it was also very windy. The quilt, unfortunately held upside down in the chaos, wrapped itself around us.

 We tried another tactic with some success . . .

 But seriously, it was WINDY!

Down the road a bit, we found a quaint little garden, and had better luck.

Nine months I've traveled to get to this day. Stitching page by page through Tula Pink's book, 3 blocks a week with the City Sampler Quilt Along. Rewarded big time by being selected by Tula herself as 2nd place winner in the quilt along contest, I really wanted to do this one justice.

I thumbed through my book again, and chose Block No. 16 to recreate for a backing, with some Parisville Eye Drops as the focus fabric. Quilting one huge spiral seemed a perfect way to tie the blocks together, and I chose one of the threads I won in the contest - straight out of Aurifil's Tula Pink Premium Collection, #2843 (palm leaf). A very pale green, it blended perfectly throughout the quilt. {I referenced the immensely helpful tutorial by The Quilting Edge for the spiral quilting.}

Have you noticed yet that I did a faced binding? Weeks ago I decided this would be a great finish, and I just love the clean look it gives to this quilt! {See OPQuilt's easy-to-follow tutorial.}

So I guess this is the last chapter for my City Sampler, "Unlocked". I knew at the beginning it would be an ambitious undertaking. Yet I can honestly say it was a thrilling adventure, and I'm pleased as can be with my finished sampler. The End.

This quilt is on my Finish-A-Long 2014 Q1 list. Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.