A finish! (And it only took a year...)

Last January - and here I'm talking about the one in 2012 - my sister asked me to make a challah cover for her. We avidly discussed design and fabric. It had to be soothing. Larger than average. Certain words would be stitched. The colour scheme was decided upon ("blue, but nothing green-blue, okay?"). She likes things Just Right, and we made sure to get all the details defined.

Over a year later, I have a finish.

In my defense:


Nope. No defense.

While 16" x 22" is rather large for a challah cover, it is basically one large block. No paper-piecing or quilting, even. When block was finished, I basted it to a very light piece of muslin, to help stabilise the stitching.

 

March 2012

I confess, the hand stitching in the central panel did take a long, looong time. Tens of hours. That would be on account of my desire to do it free-hand. I knew the look I was going for, and would stitch away; sometimes it was good enough, sometimes an hour's work would come right out again.

May 2012

July 2012

The words, also stitched free-hand - no penciled-in design, is what I mean - also took a while, as I used teeny tiny stitching.

October 2012



 

And then there was the matter of sourcing and selecting a silky backing.

 

February 2013

And then, it was sewn. Finished.

 

Blue silky back (hidden, but there). Four different "Jerusalem stone" fabrics, and two "Mediterranean sky" blues. Lots of stitching, in two shades of pale. Letters in blue.

 

The pattern is based on the "Children of Israel" block, which I love to use just because of its name.

 

 

A challah cover. A finish. Halleluyah.

 

 

Happily linking up with Quilt Story and Live a Colorful Life and Confessions of a Fabric Addict!