12 Days of Christmas Quilt - DONE!

I'm so excited that I finished this quilt, you really have no idea!  One of my goals for the year was to make a Christmas quilt, but as the months passed, I told myself it just wasn't going to happen.  Until I saw the 12 Days of Christmas Sampler QAL, then I had renewed hope!  Now it's done, and I couldn't be happier with it!

First, I guess I should show the last two blocks of it.  Here's Block 11

And here's Block 12

I was able to add the sashing Saturday and Sunday...

And I finished it all up yesterday!  Here's the finished product...

Every week, as I would finish blocks, I wondered how I would eventually quilt it.  These blocks were all so different!  Paper piecing, applique, selvedges, decorative stitching...I really just didn't know what to do with it all. 

I've mentioned it before, but I have two little girls, and a baby due in Februrary, so right now the quicker I can get something done, the better.  I thought that free motion quilting all over it would go really quick.  I didn't know how it would look with the variety of blocks, but I felt like it was my best option.

I have to say, I'm really, really happy with how it looks!  And it did go really quickly!  I haven't had much FMQ experience, so it's by no means perfect, but I think it was a good choice, and it doesn't interfere with the look of any of the blocks.

In case you're wondering what I used for the sashing, it's a green linen blend I found at Joann's.  I love the way it looks with the blocks, and I like that it's linen, since I incorporated Essex linen in natural into all the blocks.  I had quite a bit left over, so I just pieced the rest of the green linen with the natural linen for the back.  I had a small space left to fill, and I had just the right amount of what's probably my favorite Christmas fabric (that I own, at least) - Michael Miller's Holiday Stripe. 

My awesome husband helped me baste the quilt yesterday (I spray baste), so when the kids were taking their naps, I was able to quilt just about all of it.  I finished it while they had their afternoon snack.

For the binding, I had intended to use this Caleb Gray for Robert Kaufman Groove Dots.  But once it came time to do the binding, it just did.not.look right.  I really didn't have anything else that was speaking to me, and I really, really wanted to finish it last night. 

I have a LQS literally 2 minutes away from me, and I was able to get there last night right before they closed.  I found this Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater stripe fabric, that looked just about perfect!  Once the kids were in bed, I went to work doing the binding, and finished up before 10:00! 

I immediately put it in the wash (because I told my oldest that it would be ready when she got up in the morning), and stayed up late watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and then Watch What Happens Live.  Once those were over, the quilt was done, in all of it's crinkly goodness!

As you can see, it's already being broken in.

I don't know if there's such a style as "Country Modern," but that's what I keep saying to myself when I think about this quilt.  I think it's the mix of the natural and green linen.  It gives it a very homey, country feel, but the fabrics and some of the blocks are modern.  So, Country Modern it is!