Ruby's Rose Garden Quilt

Since the quilt has purple in it, my quilt model is holding it in front of a Vitex tree
(sometimes called "Chaste" tree) with its purple blooms

At last I have a finish! This one is from the flimsy I made during challenge 3 of Project Quilting back in February. If you'd like to read the story behind it, you can find that right here. Basically this quilt was inspired by a trip to Balboa Park rose gardens in San Diego in the 1990s with my Mom and daughter. I've named this quilt after my sweet Mom who LOVED roses and always wanted to visit rose gardens when she had the chance.

This is a photo (not mine) of some of the Balboa Gardens roses

I made this for my niece, Wendy, who is actually my nephew Tommy's ex-wife. Tommy and Wendy grew up in the same small town where I grew up. They weren't interested in one other during high school, but after they both had a marriage or two under their belts, they reunited at a high school class reunion. Sparks flew, and they were married within a few months. They are no longer married but remain good friends.

The backing is yardage I purchased in the sale room of

a local quilt shop in 2013, so I finally found the perfect use for it! 

Wendy is a special person who has a heart for the elderly. She runs an errand service in that same small town and goes the extra mile for those in nursing homes. When she delivered the quilt I made for Beverly last year, she made sure I received a photo of Beverly with the quilt. She also told me laughingly that she almost kept it for herself! So I've known for months that I wanted to make her a quilt, and this is the result. She also had a loving relationship with my Mom, so she will appreciate the story behind this quilt.

I really wanted to add a pretty border, but it was already fairly big (and busy!), so I made binding with the same fabric as the backing. I quilted it using simple cross hatch and "almost" in the ditch.

Naturally I used a purple sticky note to utilize a binding tip from Janine, who blogs from Quilts From The Little House. She folds a sticky note on the diagonal, lines it up with the edges of the quilt on the corner, and sews up to the diagonal edge of the sticky note and out to the corner to keep seam allowance consistent. It worked beautifully! I've never had more perfect corners. Thank you Janine! You can read more about her tip right here.

After laundering - nice crinkly goodness

Quilt Details
Finished size 

Before laundering: 54" x 72"

After laundering:  52" x 70"

Pattern

Based loosely on a baby quilt pattern by Sedef Imer

Fabrics
Bouquet Splendor by Henry Glass
Bedsheets Coral Reef by Amanda Jean Nyberg for Connecting Threads
Dit Dot in Cornsilk by Jason Yenter for In The Beginning
Let it Bee Dots by Henry Glass

Various ginghams, prints, and solids with no selvage from my stash

Superior Threads So Fine #50
Piecing: Snow #401and Genoa Gray #403

Quilting and binding: Peach Tart #430

Backing and binding
Felicity by Sentimental Studios for Moda