Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Finally Basted

With yesterday being President's Day, my husband was home from work, and I got to work on some quilting. YAY!!!
I first had to rearrange my home a little to make some space to baste my son's quilt. What I would give to have a space like below without having to move my dining room table and chairs... 
Sorry for the not so great photos...they are from my phone. For some reason I don't think I took any with my good camera.
I was completely overcome with emotions while basting this one. It was very odd. I think it was because this will be my first quilt that stays in my home. It is for my younger son and he has picked out each fabric and had a major input on the design. This one has taken me yrs to get to this point.
When I turned it over after thinking I was done, I realized that the backing was not at smooth as I would have liked.  I am such a perfectionist and so I had to go back, take out the pins and fix the back.  I baste with a spray baste but am always nervous about moving so I pin it also but not with a lot of pins. Once I fixed the back, I felt much better and repined. I know, lots of extra work on my part but it is what it is. A little ocd I guess. This one really has to be perfect. Now to figure out, quickly, how I am going to quilt it. Any suggestions?
 
Linking up with:
 Randi from Fresh-Squeezed Fabrics.
 Lee from Freshly Pieced.
 
 

Friday, February 14, 2014

Friday, February 7, 2014

January Finish!

I know it is February, but I did finish this in January and still can't get pictures that are really capturing this quilt the way I want.  For those of you who are new followers, this quilt was made for my parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary.  It is made up of 10" blocks that were sent to relatives around the country.  I requested they write a note to my parents and send them back to me.  My siblings and I (there are 6 of us total) planned a surprise party for them back in June of last year.  I was able to have the top completed in a short two weeks or so, before the party.  I wrapped it up as was and included the fabric I had chosen for the backing.  I then took it back and planned on having it completed in a short time after.  Well, as you can see it is still in my possession and it is Feb. (So very disappointed in myself, but hey, life happens...) 
 See, way too many shadows.  But no matter where I go in our yard, they are there.  Unless I go in the middle of the parking lot but as you could guess by all the snow in this picture, the parking lot is super wet and very dirty.
It is very difficult to tell but it is quilted in the ditches and I tried for the first time FMQ in the rectangles.  I will work on better pictures of that too.
I am loving the backing. Birds and flowers. Perfect for my parents.  And I do actually love this picture.
I love how the binding came out.  I typically machine stitch the binding, due to time.  It is so much quicker and I am usually ok with the extra stitching that ends up showing, but this one I chose to hand sew.  I felt it deserved that and couldn't bare to see the extra stitching. 
Looking forward to washing and drying this to see all that wrinkly goodness!
I will try for some more and better pictures too. I might have to go hunting for the perfect spot around town. Hmm.
 
Happy Sewing!!
 
Can't wait to dig into some fabric this weekend.  Hoping to work on my boys' quilts.
 
 Linking up with Finish it up Friday