A glimmer....

I believe the "light at the end the tunnel" analogy is way over-used.  But there are times when it just makes a point better than anything else.

So, there is a glimmer of light with this quilt.  I still love it -- and I continue to aspire to have the top finished by November of this year.  That doesn't sound so hard - but this is not a quilt I can work on every day.  Or even every week.

I have five large blocks to applique (of the original 16) and have completed nine of the border blocks (only 37 or so to go -- really -- 37, I think!).

If you have somehow missed my many posts on this quilt, this is Kim McLean's Lollypop quilt pattern and is done primarily with Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  My friend, mom22smartchix, finished her top as of this past weekend and it is fabulous.  We started together and chose different paths in our approach to applique and I hope mine is half as wonderful as hers when I get it done.  We've learned from each other - we've commiserated with each other - we have conspired with each other - but we never competed with each other. And I could look at hers for hours. She's a little wacky and is already planning her second one but that's another post for another day!

I hope you are working on a project that you love and are inspired to finish (eventually!).

Jan

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I'm happy to say this quilt is in Toronto and waiting for our new grandson who should put in an appearance anytime between now and early March.

I learned a lot on this quilt and for the most part -- it was fun.  Make a mistake?  Just make it work. No ripping.  Just changing direction when something didn't go as planned.

I quilted with a light gray thread and let me tell you -- there is no place to hide when you are quilting solids with semi-straight lines.  No pattern in the fabric to hide your boo-boos.  No busy pieced blocks to hide your "oops".  No forgiving backing that hides your goofs. They are out there for everyone to see.

I know this is a bit unorthodox for a baby quilt -- and I had no idea how it would be received. Interestingly, when we got home, I began to get lots of questions about how I had quilted it as they looked more and more closely. I did lots of starts and stops and burying thread so anytime I "hit" a tree, I stopped, tied off, and restarted somewhere else.  Once I sent this picture of the quilt on Lola, our son understood -- and appreciated the effort even more.

So, I'm looking forward to meeting Rex Webb Steve (our grandson's choice of names for his little brother) in a month or two and seeing that little guy on his birch tree quilt.

I hope you are quilting for someone you love -- whether you've met them yet or not!

Jan

Do over

Sometimes quilting just requires a "do over'.  This quilt is one of those.

I made this quilt for my niece-the-quilter 8-9 years ago and did straight line quilting since I did not have access to a longarm.  I called it "Tequila Sunrise" because she is a huge Jimmy Buffett fan. But alas, as it turns out Jimmy Buffett did not sing "Tequila Sunrise" but I think the name is perfect in spite of my feeble attempt.

As with this black and white quilt I did for my now daughter-in-law, the stitching started pulling and breaking over time and it needed to be fixed.

So, I loaded it on the longarm.

I quilted it with a curvy pattern so it wouldn't overlap the straight line quilting.

I pulled out the old stitching.

It was a little work but I was happy to do it....and happy to have it done.

It's now back home where it belongs and I'm thrillled it's "fixed" and should hold for another 8-9 years.

But --- I have one more to do and then I think I will have fixed all the quilts that I can remember that I quilted this way.  I want my quilts loved.  I want them used.  And I want them to last.  So a do over is an easy decision -- start to finish, it's easily done in a week and the binding is already done!

I hope you are avoiding do overs and starting the new year with lots of creativity!

Jan