Finally finished the quilt squares. I ended up only having to finish 19 (not counting my test), since we had a few people drop. Luckily, Melissa had allowed extra people to join, otherwise we would have ended up with even fewer squares.
Anyway, this is what mine look like:
I spent weeks dragging a bag of these around town to spend every spare moment on the finishing stitching (which took about 5 hours per square). It was actually a great conversation starter. I was amazed at how many Okinawan ladies came over to get a closer look and ask questions. Handicrafts are a big part of Okinawan culture...and of course...the fact that it involved sushi had something to do with their interest too, I'm sure. Only my hairdresser thought I was nuts (shaking her head while saying something like..."Hahaha...Americans! Hahaha!"). Everyone else seemed to think it was great and worthwhile.
Eventually I'll post pictures of the finished quilt...like in the next four years or so. I was thrilled with most of the squares I got in return...but there were some lessons learned.
(1) No matter how specific the instructions, in a group that large, there will still be some people who will not follow them.
(2) When it comes to quilting, simple is better. Some ladies were apologizing for the simpleness of their designs...but they will stand the test of time.
(3) Embellishments are great in scrapbooking and card making, but they don't work well in quilting. One of the squares has already started to come unraveled because it had about 3 inch long stitches in the design. I'm going to have to do work on several of them and either remove things, or strengthen and/or shorten stitches.
(4) Overall, I'm glad I participated, but just FYI to any of you who might be considering doing this...I wish we had decided as a group to just do the piecing and each do our own blanket stitching after we traded squares. At the time I thought doing the same stitching on 20 squares would be a big time and money saver (having to buy less colors of thread). In actuality, I've now had to do my own...and will redo about half of the others to one degree or another, so that they will match better and last through the years...which did not save any time or money. If we had each done our own stitching after trading the squares, then we could have done it to our liking to begin with.
The stitching has been really enjoyable, actually. I used to cross-stitch years ago, and forgot about how relaxing it could be to sit and do something repetitive with my hands. I've come up with some other ideas for other squares to round out the 25-square, quilt-top pattern I'm going to use. I'm actually having a hard time narrowing it down. At least I'll only have to make one of each of the remaining six.
I've got my work cut out for me...maybe I'll have it done by retirement.
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