I had planned on having this post up last week. But. I ran over my iPhone. With my Jeep. And all the photos for this post were on the smushed phone. I used to be a computer tech and when people crashed their computers and didn’t have a backup I liked to say, “Live by PC, die by PC.” That kinda applies to me right now. All your photos are on your iPhone and you didn’t have a backup? Duh!

Anyhow, I was able to revive my iPhone just enough to get all my photos copied to my laptop and a final backup to my desktop. (And I think I have way too many electronic devices to keep up with!)

And here is my LAST quilt for 2023. I finished it on December 28th!

I call it “Winter Wonders” because I want to leave it out all winter. Not just for the holidays. If I had named it something Christmasy, it would now have to be packed in the Christmas quilt box!

I used Free Spirit fabric for the quilt top and the binding. The print fabrics were from a bundle I bought on clearance several years ago. The batting is Warm and Natural* and the backing is Dimple Dot Minky from Shannon Fabrics that I ordered from Joannes.

The quilt is based on the “Sky Quilt” from Zen Chic.

I purchased the “Sky” pattern a few years ago and made it for my daughter and her husband for Christmas. I found this to be a difficult quilt–not for beginners. Mostly because it was on the bias. I was not happy with the finished quilt and always wanted to make it again.

I changed it up a bit this time. Made the flying geese a little larger. And changed the length of the strips.

I didn’t get it finished for the holidays in 2021. Lost my momentum at that point. Although I still loved the fabric collection. And Free Spirit fabrics are so soft and lovely. But I wasn’t in the mood to finish this quilt.

I took it with me to North Dakota this past summer and FINALLY completed all of the strips and stitched the quilt top together.

When I got back to Florida where I have all the sewing tools, I attempted to square it up on my big cutting table. Yikes. What a mess. Quilts on the bias are not for sissies! I finally ended up pinning it up on the garage wall and drawing the outline. Back onto the cutting table and sliced off quite a bit of the quilt top. I considered rebuilding some of the flying geese but I was out of the background fabric. That was in November. Again I threw it into the WIP bag in the closet. Maybe next year!

Then I caught some kind of cold bug at the beginning of December and was stuck at home for almost two weeks. I said to the WIP bag, “You will not defeat me!” And it didn’t! I made peace with the new layout–not what I envisioned when I first started modifying the original pattern–but acceptable. Between naps and blowing my nose, I had plenty of time to stitch it all together. I even handstitched the binding down!

First time I made a scrappy border. I like it!

The label.

I did stitch in the ditch for the quilting. Easy Peasy.

Athena really liked the quilt, especially the backing–Dimple Dot by Shannon Fabrics.

I was taking photos of the quilt on the quilt ladder and Athena came to check it out.

I’m going to say that I really love this quilt. “Winter Wonders” is very soft and cozy–perfect for the few cold days that we have here in Florida. While I love it, Athena is obsessed with it. I didn’t get to finish the “quilt ladder” shoot because she was trying to rescue it then I tried to do a pic of the quilt on my bed and she made sure that didn’t happen!

After sneaking under the quilt, I peeled it open. She was not happy!

I was planning on taking “Winter Wonders” out for a photo shoot tour but the weather has been super crazy here lately. The sun finally came out today but it was too cold to spend any time outside. (Hey, I’m a Floridian, 50 degrees with the wind is COLD!)

For my final shot, Terry held the quilt up in the family room.

Maybe I’ll get to take it out on a tour, but in the meantime, Athena and I are planning to spend some cuddle time in our new favorite winter quilt!

*if you buy from this Amazon link, I might be compensated!