Finished Quilt - Hive 1 2017

For my month as hive queen, I asked for large Crosses and Losses blocks, in blues and greens, with low volume backgrounds.  The wonderful members of Hive 1 for 2017 sent so many awesome blocks!  Then they sat on my design wall for the rest of the year, not so patiently waiting their turn as I finished some other projects.  I got some motivation after Thanksgiving to get this one finished so I could gift it to my grandmother-in-law.  Her favorite color is green, and I'm hoping it will help brighten up her room at the long term care facility where she now lives.  My only pictures are sort of dark though - I thought my mother-in-law (who is delivering it for me) was leaving today, so I was up late last night binding!  

My daughter chose the fabric for the back, and I also made use of two extra blocks, plus a block I made when testing options before my month as queen.  My original plan was to ask for a 16 inch finished block comprised of four 8 inch Crosses and Losses sections, but my test block took me far past the 1.5 hour limit!   

I had enough of the backing fabric left to also use it for the binding, but I won't be doing that again!  Binding is my least favorite part of quilt making (and the only part that I actively *dislike*), and I had the hardest time seeing the edge of the binding against the backing when sewing it down on that side.  Only highly-contrasting bindings for me from now on!

I really enjoyed the bee this year, and am looking forward to 2018!