Barn Door Quilt FINISH!!

It only took a little over a year (yikes!) but I finally finished my Barn Door Quilt, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!!

I used all Anna Maria Horner prints - mostly from the Dowry line, but also a little Field Study and True Colors. 

The pattern is from Sarah's Quilt-Along last spring. It finishes at a generous-sized throw, 61" x 76". I struggled trying to hold the entire quilt up and off the ground. 

In general, I don't really have great pictures of most of the quilts I've made. They have all been gifts and take so long to finish that by the time they are done, I'm too stoked to give them away to take any good pictures. 

Not this time, though!! My husband just bought a new camera - Sony A6000 - and was eager to try it out. We took a drive up to the Spiral Jetty on the north side of the Great Salt Lake, and I brought the quilt along. :) 

It was a touch breezy...

This is Brian's favorite photo of the bunch. He says it makes the quilt look like a magic flying carpet, since you can't really tell that I'm standing behind it. :) 

I quilted it with straight lines echoing the X shape in the pattern. It took a while, but I LOVE the effect. 

The binding is a pine green/aqua print by Amy Butler. 

The backing is a 108" wide quilt backing fabric I found on sale. I kind of loved not having to piece the backing. It saved a bunch of time! 

All in all, I'd say - not bad for a year's worth of work, right?? 

P.S. If you get the chance, I highly recommend driving out to the Spiral Jetty. It's kind of out in the middle of nowhere - and takes a bit to get there with the dirt roads (all manageable in our little Mazda sedan) - but SO worth it. There are a couple interesting things along the way: 

• The rocket display at ATK (including one that launched the space shuttle)
• The Golden Spike National Historic Site (we didn't stop because the trains weren't out)
• Then continuing on to the Spiral Jetty. 

The Jetty itself isn't much to see (a man-made formation of lava rock), but the area is SO COOL. It's like nothing I've seen before. Kind of a mix between being at the beach and the Bonneville Salt Flats. 

The air is salty. The wind creates that lovely crashing sound of water and waves. There are stretches of beach with some soft sand. But as you get close to the water, the sand is coated in a thick layer of sparkly, dried salt. The water at the edge of the lake is blood red - due to algae growth - and there are thick piles of soapy foam all along the beach and floating in the water. The foam is also thought to be due to the algae, likely caused by surfactants the algae produces. So interesting. 

It was like being on a different planet! We stood out there for a couple hours, just admiring the water. The sound of the waves. The snowy mountains in the distance. The unseasonably warm, almost 70-degree February weather. It was an odd, but lovely day. 

If you want to see some of the pics my husband took while we were out there - check out his website - Pix By Brian. He will be posting some on his Landscapes page. :)