I might change it out before mid May, but maybe not. I'm really loving how this one turned out, and because it's the Thistle Rose pattern, it works for St. Patrick's Day as well as spring. But it's also pretty enough that it might get hung up periodically throughout the year.
I learned how to make half rectangle triangles for this one, and let me tell you, they hurt my brain. Because you don't make them like you would half square triangles. Well, you sew them corner to corner, but they aren't lined up as a rectangle. They look like an X when you sew on either side of the line. But I have proved that I can make them, I just don't think I want to make more anytime soon.
But here's my other finish! Lattice Baby Quilt from Diary of a Quilter. This should've been done two months ago but it wasn't. And my friend is due later this month. And I won't see her until next Sunday so hopefully the baby doesn't come early. But if he does, I'll give it to her mom who I know will be spending time with her grandson. A charm pack isn't quite enough to make this one so I did buy a little extra backing and binding so I could cut a few extra 5 inch squares.
It's amazing how putting simple squares on point makes them so adorable. And I used white flannel which feels so snugly after only one wash and the texture change between flannel and cotton should provide some sensory simulation.
And how could I not put Tigger on the back? I wanted to use the panel from the line (100 Aker Wood), but it was out of stock everywhere when I was ordering fabric. So Tigger was the next best option.
And the I Spy Stars also became a top last weekend. Or maybe it was 2 weekends ago? Either way, it's still in top status, I need to piece a backing for it. I have the perfect alphabet fabric but it's not quite wide enough so I need to add a border to it. Yay, more borders. But I did make the label for it when I made the baby quilt for my friend. I had already picked Psalm 139:14 for her quilt and then I asked my brother what verse he wanted for the back of this one and he gave me the same verse. So since I had my machine set up, I figured I'd make them both at the same time. Especially since the thread color I was using worked for both. Which is great because it takes me a while to make labels so only having to type the numbers into my machine once worked out nicely.
My goal of finishing the dresden plate blocks didn't pan out. It's still in the same state it was two weeks ago. I think I've lost my desire to work on that one. Instead I've been hand quilting. I have one and a half sides of the border to go yet and then I'm on to the sashing. I did quilt one sashing because I was impatient to see how it looks and I think it's going to turn out quite nicely.
Normally, once I quilt the borders, I attach the binding next then move on to finishing the quilting in the center, but I don't think I'm going to do that this time. Just because I'm not sure if I'll have enough green thread to finish the sashing, so I figure if I quilt that until I'm out of thread and need to order more, I can bind it while I wait for the thread to show up.
Yesterday, I was intending on piecing the 3 backings I needed so I could baste some quilts this week. I was going to start with the Calico Hourglasses quilt and much to my annoyance, I'm about a quarter yard short on backing. And because I had taken all my backings to my boyfriend's place to sew there, I couldn't look through my stash at home to see what I had that I could add. So then I moved on to the backing for Good Fortune. Only to realize that I had only bought three yards and not five like I needed. I know what I did. I was calculating what I needed if I bought a 108" backing instead of a 42" backing. If I bought a 108" backing, I only needed three yards. But I bought 42" backing. So I need 2 more yards. I think I'm going to order two more yards of the backing I bought. It's the back, so I could really put anything on there. And it's bed size so the only time I'm going to see the back is when I wash it. But I also don't have two yards of anything that I want to use. But I do have six yards of that white embroidered fabric I bought at Joann's last month that I might use instead. It feels like a backing that would work on a summer quilt. So I'll think about that one. But all was not lost yesterday. I did have enough backing for Old Town. So I can baste at least one quilt this week. Even though I still have no idea how I want to quilt it. I'll probably end up just cross hatching the entire thing since that's my go to when I don't know how I want to quilt something.
And I know I probably shouldn't have, but I started another quilt yesterday too. This one is my own design, so I'm pattern testing it to make sure my quilt math is correct. I didn't get very far though, I just have the half square triangles cut out. I also haven't finished writing the pattern yet, I only have one of the two blocks written, but since I'm working on that one away from home, I have time to write it. I still want to open a pattern shop this year, so I want to have a few more patterns written so I don't feel like I'm under a time crunch to keep making quilts and I can enjoy the process. But my goal is to have at least four patterns written and ready to go when I open my shop and adding two or three patterns a year. I don't want this to be another full time job, just a side thing. And I think the hardest part is that there are other people's patterns out there that I want to make too, so I need to balance that with my back log of patterns that I've doodled out as well.
Well, I'm off to do some quilting. Happy quilting!
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