Sandy's BIG Finish

I was so excited by pie making that I forgot that I have one more of Sandy's quilts to share with you - she's called it Under the Sea. You saw the start of it two summers ago when Ed kindly modeled it for everyone as she was working on the borders.

The inspiration for the colour scheme came from this painting that followed them home from Australia one year. It arrived in a crate the size of a mattress and they left the marks on the bottom of the frame ... part of the journey!

They are avid divers so Ed found several fat quarters with sea creatures ... seahorses, crabs, whales, starfish, octopus, shells, turtles ... and it grew from there.

The top is hand-pieced. Once is was finished it sat in a bin for almost two years because she had no idea how to handle all of that fabric for quilting - way too big and heavy to manage on her hoop.

Sandy decided to have it quilted this past winter, but that was easier said than done. It measures 112 x 120" to fit their king bed but it was so large that it was too big to fit on a longarm.

Time for plan number two - she'd quilt it on her machine. I cannot even begin to imagine quilting a full-sized quilt on my machine, let alone a king!

She admits that it was a challenge, but with lots of folding and rolling and tucking under her chin she eventually found a way to stitch-in-the-ditch. Once she got on a roll she had a lot of fun seeing it come to life. She thanks her lucky stars for spray adhesive, and especially for her two eight-foot table - she's not sure how she would have managed without the table space. Plus, she was really lucky to get batting and backing that was large enough not to have to piece.

Now her masterpiece enjoys pride of place in the master bedroom and looks fantastic. It's the perfect spot to dream of new diving trips...M