In what I’m starting to realize is a theme, I’ve recently completed another quilt that was years in the making. But in my defense: I really *thought* my Nightingale quilt was finished a long time ago!
Let me explain...
Quilt Origin Story
Way back in pre-pando times (December 2019), Ian and I travelled to Ottawa for Christmas with my family. It was a lovely visit that was made even better by trips to several quilt shops.
Among them was a stop at Fabrications Ottawa - a gorgeous store with a wide variety of substrates of fabric. They’ve got apparel, canvas, and a nice selection of quilting cotton. I went in with the goal of curating a fat quarter bundle. I had seen one I liked on Instagram and wanted to match the values and colours as closely as possible.
The trip was a roaring success and I left with this adorable stack of 20 FQs. I didn’t have a plan for them at the time, but I knew they would look lovely together in a project.
A quilt along for motivation
Fast forward to Spring of 2021, when Brittany of Lo and Behold Stitchery released her Nightingale quilt pattern and announced a sew along. As luck would have it, the large throw version of her pattern called for exactly 20 fat quarters, and I decided that this pattern would look PERFECT in my curated bundle.
I had no problem sticking to the sew along schedule, and dutifully did my cutting, mixing and matching of prints (maybe my favourite part of the whole project), and sewed my sub units together on time.
Making Nightingale blocks
This is a really great skill building project, as it involves strip piecing, half square triangles, and flying geese units. I love projects that require precision, and this one has lots of opportunities for you to show off your pointy points!
The blocks came together in a snap, and in no time I had piles of gorgeous, LARGE squares, each showing off a different colour combination. Although I sometimes struggle with choosing where to place each block, I remember that laying this one out was a breeze.
The quilting design that broke me
When it came to the quilting, I was heavily influenced by Brittany’s cover version of her Nightingale quilt. She chose Mike’s Swoosh as her pantograph, and I decided that I would finally try it out (again). I had attempted it once years earlier, I had been avoiding it for since because it’s a really fiddly design. Everything has to line up *exactly* right for this quilting design to look nice.
But, I thought that maybe I had improved my skills in the meantime, and that it would turn out better this time.
Do not be fooled by these photos. Although it might look nice, it was an absolute nightmare for me to quilt, and it caused me to remove this option from my online list of pantograph designs. NEVER AGAIN!
It’s frustrating for me because I know lots of other quilters who are able to stitch out this design without too much trouble, but for me it’s just not worth the effort.
Oh well, you live and you learn!
Photo opportunity
I managed to get this project trimmed and bound in time to take full advantage of our tree’s gorgeous foliage. For one week in June, this tree is the prettiest thing, and it even matched with my quilt!
I was glad to have gotten my Nightingale quilt finished in time for this opportunity.
Except…. It turns out my quilt wasn’t really finished.
After taking photos with the tree, I folded up my quilt and stashed it away in a cupboard (along with many other quilts). It sat there peacefully for years, until I recently (Nov 2024) pulled out some quilts to prepare them for an online sample sale.
Surprise - there’s no stitching in the binding!
I was shocked to find out that I had never finished the binding on this project! Sure, I had sewn it to the front of the quilt, wrapped it around to the back, and then glue basted it in place. But that was it.
I have no idea why I never bothered to complete the final stitches in my Nightingale, but you can be sure I’m doing it now! Although it was a prime candidate for machine quilting, I decided to finish this one by hand, and have been enjoying sitting on the couch by the fire, adding the final touches.
I’m so glad to have this project *actually* finished!
If you love it and want it to be yours, it’s currently for sale in my online shop. I hope it finds a good home!
