The project-a-month resolution: January

Although it usually takes me a long time to get around to finishing a quilt, when I do finally decide to tackle this stage, I generally get obsessed and finish it pretty quickly. This project was like that. I've put in a couple of hours every day, mostly in front of the TV but occasionally when I should have been editing a cookbook, and it's done.


My favourite parts of quiltmaking are constructing the individual blocks (especially when they can be chain-pieced, a process that combines production-line efficiency and speed with the satisfaction of hand work), and then sewing down the binding. I know that many other quilters hate this bit, but I find it really pleasurable. For one thing, it means the quilt is almost finished, and that's always a relief (and frequently a surprise). For another, it's the kind of repetitive, basic hand-sewing that I find really meditative and therapeutic. And once I work up a rhythm, it's surprisingly quick. I can get through metres in no time. Very satisfying.


The quilting on this quilt is basic, but that's how I like it. The object of this exercise is to finish things, not to labour intensively over intricate heirlooms – so job done, I think.  

I've outline-quilted the centres of the blocks and run a line of quilting 
down the sashing strips.   

The border and binding. The finished size is 105 x 130 cm (41 x 51 inches). 

Three spare blocks, randomly placed on the back of the quilt.

So that's one unfinished project down, eleven to go. A good start to the crafting year, I say.