It’s done! I decided to forge with ahead My Small World because basically, nothing else in my life was getting done with that mess in the sewing room, and I wanted to be finished with this project, the Third Hard Quilt of 2019. Here, in my backyard studio, I’m showing the finished flimsy of My Small World, a pattern by Jen Kingwell. I made some changes here and there, but it’s basically her pattern. Began in 2014, I was nudged to completion by a new Instagram Quilt-a-long #mysmallworldsewcial, where many others are still working. Let’s take each of the last two sections, one at a time:
One late night I was thrilled to discover an Eiffel Tower in one of my fabrics. I love the embroidery others had done, but it wasn’t for me.
I took the hexie bubble with me to Guatemala last week, and stitched it up while chatting with my sister/BIL (who we went to visit) and on the plane home. I brought home some illness, courtesey of the Chicken Bus airplane we flew home (kidding, it was a regular airplane but there were a lot of people sneezing, coughing, etc).
I made a teeny video of our visit to the bus depot in Antigua, where we saw a lot of Chicken Busses, so nicknamed because they can carry everything, including live chickens. If I could have figured out how to add a chicken bus to this quilt, I would have; I fell in love with them, as well as Guatemala.
I also fussy-cut a unicorn (just under the top rainbow, but everyone on IG called it a horse–his little white horn is hard to see).
Underneath the arches and hexie-bubble are bigger blocks of fabric, as I figured I was going to cut them out from behind the two structures at the end, and why waste all that piecing? I cut out the fabric from behind the rainbow (shown above) and the spikey arch and hexie-bubble:
Those arches were a grind, but I did them. I included other tips and tricks in this post.
Section six was a relief to get to, after those arches.
I liked the two blue silos, but they were a bit stark, so I added signs to them: a sewing chicken and the word Quilt.
I changed the order of the bottom row of patches around, and I just couldn’t face another eight teeny flying geese, so I did a square-in-a-square with fussy-cut horses, since this is the farm section.
I sewed those two sections together, then stitched it to the other part of the quilt I’d already completed.
Yes, I’m pretty happy to be at this point. My friend Laurel added a border to hers and I’m considering that, too.
My To-Do list of items is lengthy, all being held hostage by this quilt. Now I need to go and clean up my sewing room, vacuum, clean some bathrooms, and try to find the extra furnace filter in the garage, as well as maybe take a nap. But I’m done!!!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 
WaHoo!!! Good for you sticking with it. I think it was worth the struggle. Section 5 is especially wonderful with all the little details. Take time now to do what you truly want to do with no pressure . . . just pleasure.
Yay! Congratulations! What a spectacular finish!
No pressure, but how does one quilt something like that?
Your version is so pretty, I especially like the addition of blue to the sky sections. I made mine a while ago, but I wish I had done a QAL with you. Your quilt is so much more “together” than mine. Although I like mine, I didn’t consider the whole quilt while piecing it and there are sections I would do differently now. Good for you!
It turned out fabulously! Congratulations!
Congratulations; this is definitely a quilt top that requires a lot of time and patience. I love the fussy cutting you did and your value transitions really make it pop!
That looks incredible. I love the overall balance in color and your piecing is beautiful.
I’m impressed with anyone who completes this quilt. I always wanted to make it but never thought I’d finish it. Yours looks great! Congratulations.
Congratulations Elizabeth! I can imagine how pleased and relieved you must be! I love the various shades of blue that unify your whole quilt! I think you’ve skilfully used small touches of yellow and green across it! A success all round!
What a wonderful finish and I must say, your version of this beauty is one of the happiest, most inviting I’ve seen – congratulations!! Every once in a while I get to the end of one of these marathons and, despite knowing I should just hug it and sigh in relief, my inclination is to just stomp on it – both an act of love I suppose! In your case, taking a nap was well deserved.
Bravo! Don’t hide this one away. It needs to be where everyone can see it. 🙂
Oh, Elizabeth, it came out just perfect! I love everything about it! I threw my pattern and million tiny squares in the destash pile, but maybe I’ll pull it back out!
Woohoo! I like your adaptations. Looks great.
Excellent work, you would be really pleased that the quilt top is finished well before the end of the year. Having all the fabric mess in my sewing room was what motivated me to finish mine off as well, there were just too many small pieces of fabric everywhere. I like the idea of a border, it will frame it nicely.
It’s fun to see how it all came together. The creative mind at work!
It’s done, and it’s beautiful!
It’s such a wonderful quilt! As a whole, and in its particulars! Love the fussy cutting. What a labor of love. How are you going to quilt it???