Summer Breeze...

This quilt was made years ago. 

We had just married, moved from Fl. to MD and I met a few quilters. When we met we all did some version of this pattern by Jean Wells. 

(I'll show the book at the end)

Of course I changed it up a bit, heh heh
I did 3-D flowers with sun buttons for faces, and used lime green with a cherished purple batik. 
At the time we had little money so this was a real extravagance. 

I am hanging it up this week for the summer. I love a banner format. 

The point is, this was finished about 1997... old is not bad y'all. I still love this quilt. I learned buttonhole stitch with applique on this quilt. 

I used perle cotton for the hand embroidery. 

I think it's bold and modern. 
Made long ago but....
I never put on a sleeve. I used to stake it to the wall with straight pins. Yep. 
Yesterday I went to the scrap bin and pulled out a strip about the right size. 

 I didn't care the width as this is not for entry in a show. I finished the outside edges and then with wrong sides together sewed the long seam. Pressed open and hand stitched the sleeve with the open seam against the backing. 

I usually do a 4" sleeve, insert it in the binding and hand stitch the bottom edge. 
This was so much faster but it also didn't need to be larger than my hanger which is small. 
Does this count for a finish today!? 

 Nearly 20 years old, it looks fresh to me.
This is another reason to prewash. The chemicals were washed out before making so they won't eat away at the quilt as it ages. 
This is the book I used for the pattern....
Just for interest, I arrange quilting books by category so I can always find them.