French General's Wife

This year in June, my mother had a significant birthday....you know the ones that end with a zero...
and I decided that it was time to finish the French General's Wife that had been started three years ago....this being the year of the finish and all.

Well, I spent February and March appliquéing the scallop border down......I am such a slow hand sewer...

Then in April, I went to get out what were supposed to be eight completed pieced checkerboards, only to find I had done 5 out the 8 required...the tricks the mind plays....so in April the checkerboards were sewn together....lots of sewing....

...and more sewing, and finally finished piecing the whole quilt top together...I still love that French General range - Rural Jardin...so pretty :) I made this from a Jelly Roll, and other French General pieces I had, as well as black and bones I had in the stash. It has ended up fairly close to the pattern, with the exception of the hearts I appliquéd instead of circles...pretty happy with how they turned out.

By this time it was the beginning of May and I  realised, that with a month left to quilt the top in, working 4 days a week and going away for one of those weekends. I wasn't going to get the quilting done...so I decided to give Mum the quilt top for Mother's Day....and I would quilt it and enter the completed item in Territory Quilts 2014 in October, which is being held in Alice Springs this year. Everyone was happy with this....especially me!!

But guess what I had also done three years ago....I had cut out enough strips to make another one in completely different colours...maybe I could call this the French General's Mistress!!