This week I finished the piecing on the 5 yard quilt I was working on last week. I added the pale gray 4 1/2 " borders and wanted to decide on the backing. I ordered a wide backing with these wonderful words several weeks ago, not knowing what I would do with it.
But when I finished this quilt for my daughter, I knew that this was the perfect backing. I laid it out and realized that because it was directional, I would have to order more of this fabric . So this week, I ordered more fabric. When it arrives, I will piece the backing and get it ready to go to the long arm quilter.
I got started on my April OMG . I trimmed the batting and backing and tried to square up this quilt. I am not sure what happened, but when I tried to trim it by squaring up the corners as I was taught, some of the edges were way narrow. I knew it I trimmed them that way, the 1/4" seam allowance would not be sufficient when I attached the binding. I thought, I worried, I weighed different scenarios. I decided to add strips of fabric where needed. Luckily, I still had all the leftover fabric. I was able to cut some 1" strips and add them to the edges of the places it was too shallow. I did not take photos, but it worked. If you look carefully at this corner you will see a tiny sliver of matching fabric that was added to the edge. I wish I knew how to add arrows and such to my pictures!
Wednesday, I got the binding attached at a sew-in with friends. It really helped having 8' banquet tables to lay the bulk of the quilt on. I will continue to hand sew the binding to the back as I watch TV or Netflix or Amazon Prime....actually I worked on it Thursday while stitching with some other friends. We meet every Thursday to do hand sewing. Embroidery, binding, even some knitting or crocheting gets done, while we chat and chat and chat.
And I started on the Yellow or Gold slab blocks for the RSC18 challenge for April. These are in various stages of completion. My basket of yellow has plenty of pieces still in it.
And I cut the setting squares and triangles for Rick Rack Nines from Bonnie Hunter's book, Adventures in Leaders and Enders. Making scrappy nine patches has been my leader and ender project for the last 2 years. My design wall will not be big enough to hold all the blocks. This is the beginning of 8 rows. there are 15 rows. The quilt will be 102 x 102 with borders!
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| OOPS the bottom right has too many scrappy squares! Glad I took this photo! |
This could be a problem....already there is an error in the lay out! But at least I noticed it before it is sewn. This quilt is put together on the diagonal as you can see. Bonnie suggests doing 1/2 to the diagonal middle and then the other half, then joining the long seam at the last. It will be a while. I have made a copy of the layout chart in the book, so I can have it close to me at the machine. There is a pattern.
I will be linking this post to Myra's Finished or Not Friday, at Busy Hands Quilts and
Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.
I know all of these are not finished, but I will be done with the binding before Friday is over.
I have to get groceries today, go to the library and I have a hair appointment . I woke up to 3+ inches of snow AGAIN! Blaaah!
Stay Busy and Stay Happy
YES!! that happens a lot to me - and its annoying - but after looking at your photos... you are doing a lot of things! Love the yellows ;-)
ReplyDeleteWow....this is impressive to me......I'm not much of a patchwork quilter anymore.....gone to the dark side of making art quilts.....but I sure do appreciate the scrappy look!!
ReplyDeleteDo you ever sleep? Your work load and output are overwhelming! I've had to do the same "patch up" on quilts of mine too. My Aunt Marie was a top-notch quilter, and did everything the old fashioned way. When I started looking at her quilts close up, I noticed that some blocks were added on. Some quilts contained different background fabrics for the blue because she quilted from gifted or scrap fabric. Now when I have to add a bit of fabric to make a block or quilt work, I just tell myself that I'm doing it the "Aunt Marie Way." Since she is my quilting mentor, I figure that is not a bad thing at all!
ReplyDeleteEverybody feels that way sometimes, but you seem to be making a lot of progress anyway! And I'm with you on the snow-- time for it to go away.
ReplyDeleteJudy, I admire your BH quilt!!! Great job! And yes, I have those times when it seems nothing finished comes out of MY studio. You've got quite a bit cooking there, though. And I agree--enough is enough snow! We've got more coming on Sunday...
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you, Judy. That backing fabric says it all. Where did you get it? Thanks for your binding tale, good to keep in mind. Your yellow blocks have reminded me to make some to go with my group from last year, or maybe two years ago. I've been stalling on yellow. Your scrappy quilt will be really fun. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeletePaula, I ordered the backing fabric from fabric.com. It's a wide back, so when I add the extra on the botton, I'll have another piece that is approximately 50X72 for something else! I think it was on sale when I ordered it. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDelete