Finished Quilts

Completed: Farm Girl Vintage Quilt (and trying a new quilt binding technique)

Sending thanks out to those of you who’ve followed the journey of this quilt completion. A special thanks to Kate of Tall Tales From Chiconia who inspired me to work on this quilt as part of the monthly ScrapHappy online group she helps run (the blocks for my quilt are entirely of fabric scraps, many of them from other quilters).

If Kate hadn’t inspired me, the quilt might have continued to be an old UFO (unfinished object for the non-quilters) for endless years!

Quick story behind this quilt: I began working on blocks for this quilt at a quilt retreat back in 2017 (yes 8 years ago) when several of my quilting buddies were working on blocks from Lori Holt’s book  Farm Girl Vintage. I am not into the “farm girl” aesthetic but the blocks looked so fun; and I was drawn into the fun and excitement my friends were having making the blocks.

But the blocks got put away to gather dust (because I didn’t know what I would do with such a quilt that didn’t fit into my more Bohemian decor aesthetic) until I did an audit a couple years ago of my UFOs and decided I should finish the quilt.

And now finally the quilt is done!

I hate binding quilts and decided to try out of new technique for binding the quilt per this YouTube video:

It worked and I ended up with nice crisp corners, which I’ve always struggled with:

The finished quilt measures approximately 96 by 97 inches (2.44 meters by 2.46 meters) and it was a bit unwieldy to try and photograph for this post. First I tried photographing it on my front porch draping it over the railing and photographing the front and back on the rail:

Then John got a long board of wood from his woodworking project pile along with a couple of woodworking clamps and clamped the quilt on. He held it above his head while I took photos.


Yes there is a shadow up top but I didn’t want to ask him to redo it in another location. This photo is good enough!

And here is a little section of the quilted back of the quilt with the Cortez Mill Flour sacks and disassembled recycled duvet cover:

So my future plan is to send a photo to the Cortez Flour Mill so they can see what I did with their flour sacks!

43 thoughts on “Completed: Farm Girl Vintage Quilt (and trying a new quilt binding technique)”

  1. What a beautiful farm girl quilt. I love the unique choice of flour sacks on the back. ❤️❤️ And, btw I am going to try the binding method you recommended from you tube. Happy quilting 💕

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  2. The piece looks great. Your work is so good and your color selection is as always just wonderful. I also love John’s solution for the photo. And I checked out the video. I picked up a couple of tips which is helpful because my binding skills can use some upgrading! Thank you!

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      1. It’s strange but I like that step. Maybe because it’s the finish line???!!! But I can’t say I have ever been totally happy with my workmanship so this was a serendipitous video for me!

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  3. Great finish! Yes, I appreciate the work that went into the quilt top and it looks quilt festival perfect. 🙂 But that back! It looks so soft and fluffy and filled with plenty of homespun stories to cuddle up with on the couch. A scrappy winner in my book!

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  4. She’s a beauty! And I’m so happy that ScrapHappy was able to supply the last bit of impetus you needed to finish her. Love your scrappy/sacky backing, and the quilting also really complements the blocks with that interesting texture.

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  5. Wow! it turned out GREAT!! I love the “controlled scrappiness” – I’ve steered away from this pattern too because I’m more of a ‘modern fabric’ quilter. The back is just as fantastic as the front…can’t wait to see what response you get from Cortez Flour Mill 😍

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  6. I’m so happy you’ve finished this quilt, and what an accomplishment, especially since you weren’t thrilled with it in the first place. The grey strips break up the blocks nicely and tone down the brightness as well. I love the flour sack backing and I’m happy to hear you’ll send photos to the Flour Mill. I know they’ll be delighted.

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  7. I think many of us have been swept up in the fun of quilt projects, only to find them languishing in a stack waiting to be finished. This finish is a beauty, and John gets a 10 on creative ways to hold up a quilt!

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