Progress

Lots of sewing done and lots more to do, but it's starting to really take shape now.

A 2014 finish

Pandora is in the binding stage, and I'm contemplating additional quilting, so it wasn't finished before the end of 2013. This quilt for my niece didn't quite make it either with the binding being finished on New Year's Day. It's been washed, packed, shipped and put on the bed. My niece loves it. Yeah!

Blooming nine-patch pattern, 68 x 87 inches

Didn't have anything in the stash appropriate for the backing so I had to go shopping. So glad the shop owner suggested matching the pattern on the seams. It wasn't hard and I like the look.

Maybe

This could be a year-end finish.

Or an early 2014 finish. No pressure. The top's been waiting to be quilted for a year and a half already.

Pin basting sure is hard on the knees and the fingers. 

The "eyes" have had it

After appliqueing the "eyes" of a few blocks, and then finally one of the center bits, I decided I didn't like the "eyes."

I like it better with the center fabric extended into the "eyes" so it looks like the arcs are on top of a single piece of fabric.

So now the design wall looks like this, and I have more to unpick and redo. That should keep me busy into the new year.

Introducing my latest project

I'm using the Gypsy Kisses pattern from "Material Obsession 2." Blocks should finish at 24 inches. I'm thinking I'll make nine.

Around the block

The house top has progressed some. I added another round, and then decided the center needed to be changed so I took out the plain block and substituted with a star block.

I have some ideas where to go next, but I have to think about it awhile so I've moved this off to the side to let it percolate. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2013 - Flag quilt

I'm entering this year's finished flag quilt in Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival throw category. It could have gone in the scrappy category or maybe the group quilt one too, I suppose.

I've blogged about this quilt a few times. The first time I mentioned it, it was a six-year-old UFO. Four years later I finally finished it.

In 2003, at the AQS show in Nashville, my friends and I spotted a quilt hanging in the Opryland hotel hallway and decided to duplicate it. We bought the blue fabric at the show to use in each block for continuity. We planned to swap the 5-inch blocks each month using a variety of golds and reds from our stashes. We did swap for a few months, and then life got in the way.

I'd pull the project out from time to time and make some blocks. With the pieced stripes of the flag finishing at a half-inch, the block is a bit tricky to sew well. One reason the quilt languished. Eventually I got all the blocks done and added the sashing. Also half-inch finished strips with half-inch cornerstones.

Maggi Honeyman quilted the flags in a Baptist fan pattern on her long-arm machine, and I got the binding finished at the beginning of the year. Looking back this is the only non-baby quilt I've finished this year, but as we all know, good quilts take a lot of time!

Thank you, Amy, for hosting the festival again. You can check out all the categories and quilts here at Amy's Creative Side blog.