Pink Lanterns--finished quilt

I'm a little slow in posting this finish because I haven't yet heard back from the recipient.  But it was to be delivered by a family member, so I'm thinking that she has received it safely.   I just heard that she received the quilt last weekend,  and that she can FEEL the love that went into it when she looks at the quilt that is keeping her warm.  So glad ! GLORY TO GOD for the ability that HE has blessed ME with......I could not do this ministry without HIM.  This is my ministry ..... that's all.  It is not ENOUGH.  I could never do ENOUGH; my God is so wonderful.

These are not the best photos, but they were the best I could get at the time.

I called this an original design, and that's sort of silly.  Most variations of block and design configurations have been used and reused since quiltmaking began, and probably SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE has used the courthouse steps blocks in just this manner.

What I meant to say is that I didn't see anything put together in just this way, and I came up with my own measurements, setting, and coloration.  When you've been quilting as long as I have, you just pull from experience, I think.

Anyway, I used about 6 or 7 different pinks for the top, along with one consistent gray print fabric.  I can't remember, and usually don't note, designers names or lines of fabric, so I can't help you there.  I just buy what I can get a good price on, and use it as the mood or design dictates.  It seems like the gray fabric's designer's name was Jay McCarroll or something like that, and I got yardage of the fabric at an outrageously good price online several years ago.  It has little plain and polka-dot, gray and pink tomatoes all over it.

One of the fabrics had messages of love on it, and I tried to fussy-cut it as reminders that Ruhama is wrapped in love when she's using this quilt.

Sorry about the poor lighting, but this was the only shot that showed how big the quilt is compared to a twin-sized bed.

The quilt finished at about 46 x 68 after quilting/washing/drying.  I machine-quilted it on my old black-headed Singer, Model 15.  Using a walking foot, I quilted in the ditch on all of the pink strips (the lanterns), and then I free-motion-quilted the remainder of the quilt in a medium-sized meandering pattern.  Boring, perhaps, but the meandering always gives me that wonderful puckery look that I want in a laundered quilt.

I guess I'm out of practice, because after 4 days of machine-quilting, especially 2 afternoons of holding the arms up level with the machine-bed for the meandering, I could HARDLY MOVE my right arm and neck on Friday morning.  I was CRYING in pain !  But time and Tylenol 3 took care of that, praise be to God.

The back of the quilt is a solid colored flannel, a soft medium-pink, pieced in the middle.  And, then, I added one final heart, for the label.