More Green

Eight years in the making, Lizard Toes at last is done!!!

I finished the binding at 11:36 pm Tuesday. The plan had been to stick it in the washer before using it to replace Dancing Lizards on our bed. Oh, the memories in that first Lizard quilt!!!

Dancing Lizards is as big as Lizard Toes, nearly 7 feet by 7 feet. I quilted Dancing Lizards by hand on a wood frame I inherited from my grandmother (and used to enjoy using with her while she was still alive). I was so proud of the design when I finished, I took a chance on entering it into the 2008 Denver National Quilt Festival, and unbelievably, it was juried into the show! We were living in a tiny apartnment then and had no place big enough to hang the quilt for an entry photo, so a couple of my friends helped me snap a shot on the stage at church.

My most memorable comment from the judges was, "This could benefit from more quilting." At the time, I was determined to do better on my next entry attempt, but deep down inside, I was devastated. I've since learned my quilts don't have to please the quilt police. They have to please their recipients. And the recipients of both these Lizard quilts was us, me and my sweetheart. I think we literally loved it to death!!!

The only place Dancing Lizards has hung since the Denver National Quilt Festival has been on our bed, and it really took a beating over the years! Definitely ready for retirement!!!

By the time I finished binding Lizard Toes, Lizard had fallen asleep in the zero-gravity recliner (which is normal for him these days). I had to work in the office a full nine hours yesterday, the first time I've left Lizard alone for more than five hours since returning to work full time following his total knee replacement in 2019 and the first time I've been in the office more than five hours since March 19, 2020. As a result, a photograph of my entire quilt on the driveway was out of the question yet again, and now, Wednesday night, as I type this, it's snowing again. It may be a while before I get the full quilt in a shot.

The only place this stiff, heavy giant is going to hang (other than for that photo of the front and the back) is the bed. Lizard Toes has about 365 mistakes. No, I didn't count them. I've done a few block-a-day and motif-a-day projects in my life. I think Lizard Toes was at least a mistake a day. But guess what??? I love it all the same!

I decided to sleep under Lizard Toes to celebrate finally finishing it. I'll wash it and get more photos after I've given it a good workout. All that dense quilting makes it stiffer than other quilts I've cuddled in, but hopefully it will soften up with use and washings. And hopefully, those 564 toes won't unravel too fast!

Linking up with Alycia Quilts.

Tweet

Pin It