Completing Some Longstanding Sewing Projects

I mentioned in a post the other week, that due to the lockdown, I've gone back and picked up some quilting projects that I haven't touched for years, literally.

The first project I picked up and have now finally completed, was this itsy bitsy hexagon patchwork table runner.  I looked back in some of my old posts to try to discover when I started it and it was in August or October of 2014.  Can you believe it? It has been sat in my sewing basket unfinished for 6 years now.

To be honest, the top was virtually finished when I picked it up again.  I just needed to make and attach a few more tiny hexies to the outer rows and then it could be sewn to some backing fabric and it was finished.

It looks much less mind bogglingly kaleidoscopic once you place items on top of it.

This was probably the easiest of my outstanding projects to finish and now it's finally finished, I'm actually quite pleased with it.  I love that I managed to use up lots of small fabric scraps to make it. Many of the fabrics remind me of different times and projects, so I like it from that point of view as well.

The second longstanding quilting project that I've picked up again recently, was this lovely chunky double quilt. I think I started it as far back as 2013. It is filled using an old duvet that we didn't need anymore, so instead of throwing it out, I made it into an eiderdown/quilt.

Because of the thickness of the quilt, however, I was never able to sew it together on a machine, so the quilting of the back, front and duvet together had to be done solely by hand.  Each line of stitching took approximately one and a half to two hours to complete.

It has been sat unfinished for over 6 years now, but by sewing one line per day for the last week or so, I've finally managed to finish the quilting and then hand sew the binding around the edges.

During the last 6 years, it has lain on the bed in my sewing room and on several occasions I've slept under it, unfinished.  I can vouch for how warm and comfortable it is.  Unfortunately, some of the fabrics have faded a bit as a consequence, but I'm not too bothered, as this just gives it a bit more of a lived in and loved feel.

I'm relieved to have finally finished it though. It was a marathon project. The only issue it has, is that it's so thick that I can't wash it in our washing machine and will have to take it to the launderette, where they've got a much bigger machine I can wash it in.  I'll probably do so some time before next winter, just to make it feel even softer and cosier.

There's still one more quilt project that I need to finish, but I'm still working on that one and will post again when I've finished it.

Have you managed to finish any longstanding projects this lockdown?