Right in time for Spring

...did i finish my Ruby Star Spring blanket I started back in January. This blanket or throw or bag quilt (whichever description you fancy) was meant to be a quick fix for me and was inspired in the main by a this quilt and a bargain linen buy of 1.5 m of the most gorgeous medium linen at the cloth house (sigh, oh how I love this shop...).

The quick fix wasn't as quick in the end because when I had finished the quilt top I decided that I would cross stitch over the bees on the linen. And so I did.

I took the quilt with me to St. Lucia at the end of January where I spend the short hours between coming back from the beach or excursion to dinner time cross stitching. Then I cross stitched a bit more on a train trip to my parents and cross stitched a lot more last weekend when the weather was much to gorgeous to sit behind the sewing machine. Oh it was bliss being able to lounge on my sun longer and cross stitch.

I used the following Finca Perle Cotton for Cross Stitching: No 2711 (lilac), 1485 (pale orange), 3670 (petrol), 2615 (pale lilac), 1742 (Pink), 8080 (dark brown) and DMC Mouline stranded cotton in 902 (Aubergine).

I am sure this quilt will for ever remind of St. Lucia and the wonderfully early Spring days we have had here in the UK over the last couple of weeks. 

And so I finished it this week. I agonized rather a lot whether I really should not use any batting but decided to stick to the original plan in the end and it was the right choice. As the backing is linen of medium weight the quilt overall has a pleasant weight to it. In addition it is meant to be a light through for the warmer Summer months rather than a warm quilt. I think it will work perfectly for that.