Well, guys, I did it. I finished my La Passion Quilt top. I cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled I am. This has been the most challenging piece I have attempted so far in my quilting life.
I got a little bit excited when I was finishing, and took photos of the last hexie I basted, the last segment I added, and the last stitch. Jeremy was sitting next to me, and I cried a little.
Last hexie 
Last Segment 
Last Stitch
I began this piece in October of 2013. At the time, the designer, Grit Kovacs, had not finished her top. She was just figuring out how to fill in the corners when I found her. Luckily for me, she had made charts and shared her pattern, so I could follow along.
La Passion has been with me through so many events – five different homes, trips all over the world (England, Scotland, Iceland, the Netherlands, and all over the Caribbean.) I’ll make sure I have a complete list by the time I finish the quilt.
I feel a little bit sad to be losing this quiet time companion of the past 7 years. Of course, the hand work on it isn’t completely finished. I plan to face the binding, which means I will have to make another bunch of hexies to go all the way around the perimeter. No way am I trimming off those points. Facing this will probably be a bit of a nightmare, but this quilt is worth the extra effort.
The dimensions of the finished top are 103″ x 106″. It’s a good thing I have a king sized bed, although it won’t be going on there for a little while.
The hexagons are 1/2″ hexagons, all hand basted and hand stitched. 100% of all the work was done by me. The vast majority of fabric is batik. One print did sneak in, but only because it was a batik-look print. I wish I knew who the manufacturers of the batiks were. I can tell you for sure that one of the oranges is from Hoffman. Other than that, I have no idea. I picked them up at quilt shops literally all over the country.
Now that I’ve taken a bit of a victory lap on finishing the top, I have to really plan my next steps. I’ve ordered a backing, but I want to make sure it is the perfect match. I am also hoping it is actually large enough to accommodate this enormous quilt.
Then I will have to decide on a batting. I’m leaning towards Hobbs Wool/Cotton blend, but I have to pull out my batting samples to be certain. For quilt show purposes it should really have a double batting, but it is already very heavy. I would like to sleep under it some day without suffocating.
Do I put a muslin backing behind the top, to prevent batting bearding through the seams? My stitches are awfully tiny, and that extra piece of fabric will just make things bulkier.
Most importantly, I have to decide on how to quilt it! Never have I been so concerned about ruining one of my quilts with the quilting. I just ordered 10 different purple threads, polys and silks, to see what I want to work with. I will probably use a few different ones in the different colored areas.
Once I finally finish it, I’ll be entering it into quilt shows. I really want to show this baby off.
I also need to find a better spot to take a photo! It’s great to have a foyer, but it would be nice if it was like 3 feet wider.
All right! I’m off to find new rabbit holes to explore! And to get back to client pieces – I have a last few custom jobs I’ve been putting off, and they need to get finished and go back home to their owners.
There are many, many other La Passion Quilt posts if you want to read more about my slow motion adventure. Here are a few of my favorites.
Oh Jen! Congratulations on this accomplishment and beautiful quilt! Amazing!
Thanks so much, Wendy!
There are no words. This is absolutely breathtaking! Congratulations!
Thank you!
Congratulations!!🎉 Your quilt is AMAZING! So beautiful!! Wow!!!!!!🦋🌻
Thanks!
What a work of beauty, persistence, skill, love! Well done, and thank you for sharing it. Gorgeous colors, impeccable stitching… My mom once hand-made a hex quilt using scraps from all the dresses she made for my sister and me when we were kids. But the hexagons are 2 inches, so it didn’t take her seven years. Every stitch by hand. Your piece is a true museum piece; my mom’s is more of a family heirloom. Both are precious beyond words.
I would say your Mom’s piece is probably more “museum worthy”. The history that can be read from the old scraps is so fascinating. And thank you!
What an achievement!!! It is stunning and a massive amount of work. I sat for a few minutes last evening, joining 1″ hexi to a double diamond, and reminded myself I might need to work on the project more often if I ever want to finish. It’s not nearly as complex as yours. I admire you for sticking with the project. (Hoping you removed papers as you went along!) BEAUTIFUL PROJECT!!!!
Thanks! And yes, the templates come out as I go along – the mylar ones don’t fold, so it would have been one huge, flat piece.
What an accomplishment! Truly amazing work Jen.
Congratulations on the finish, what a labor of love! Are you thinking you will pick up another hand work or long term project?
BEAUTFUL! Such tiny pieces.
Oh. My. Goodness.!!!! Wow! – – Wow!! Congratulations on finishing her!! I remember when Grit started hers, and I wanted so much to join in, but I’ve only kept it on my bucket list since I already had two long-term hand applique quilts going. I am in *love* with yours. Really great fabrics and color play. It must feel empty as well as thrilling to be finished. I really enjoyed your “What’s the Rush?” post, and whole-heartedly agree. Those hand applique quilts have been going for several years already, and will slow simmer for several more, and that’s OK. It’s actually the point. A form of meditation, as you said. 🙂 Again, congratulations on on your finish here – what a great celebration.
This is an absolutely amazing accomplishment! Congratulations! It’s stunning!
Stunning. Looks like someone is already staking their clam on your beautiful quilt top.
I am just discovering this quilt! Fabulous! Don’t need another EPP project right now but how do I get the pattern for this?
Hey, Marlene –
To get the pattern you will need to go to https://www.gritslifeshop.de/La-Passion-Anleitung
Make sure you hit the “translate” button at the top of the window, and go through the purchase steps. The pattern is in both German and English.
Very nice my wife just bought one without instructions in English, can only find German, would you have a link to an English version in a pdf
Sorry. I can’t really help you. I would suggest reaching out to the designer and asking her.