Bandana Quilt Finished!

A number of years back, I bought an old quilt top at an antique shop in Boise.  I already described it's construction and the issues with it, in my previous post.  Phyllis did her stippling magic on it and I love it.  I got the binding all on, on Thanksgiving Day.  It is finished.

It is a beautiful quilt.  It is on my table in my quilt room, but I hope to scout out a good place, out-of-doors, to photograph it properly. I hope whomever made all these blocks remembers her work and is having a warm feeling about it just now, or beaming down from heaven with happiness.  Below is a close-up of the back of one of the blocks.

You can see the machine stitching below the yellow and floral block, however the stitching on the yellow four-patch is hand-stitching,  Also note, at the top of the photo, the blue sashing is attached to the red sashing by machine.  I don't know how old the fabrics in the quilt are, but I am glad to finally have risen to the task of making it into a completed quilt. 

What's on the Design Wall in Late November?

That pumpkin quilt top is finished; the one that I posted on November 6.   I need to make the backing, buy that spooky panto, and get it to a long arm quilter.  This is the first time I have done two "What's on the Design Wall" posts in the same month.  Of course, the one that was on my wall in July stayed up there through most of October.  I have finally got a move on it.  This is the Buggy Barn quilt, that I got the book for at a Fall School House event at the Blue Bird Quilt Shop, in Nampa, back in, dare I say 2012???

Then in the next year, I bought the fabrics. Then it lay there until February of 2017, when "Buggy Barn Janet" came to the Quilt Crossing and did a two day class on completing our Buggy Barn stack n whacks.  I was so glad I took the class.  She was wonderful.  I finally got all my horse blocks done, in September 2017.  I know this because, I posted a photo of all twelve blocks, on 09/14/17.  Then they sat there until last week . . . when I discovered I need nine horse blocks to make the quilt, but I actually made twelve horse blocks.  That's how I roll.  Now that I look at the photo I posted in Sept 2017, I am wondering if I should use all twelve in this quilt.  Anyway, I have the barns finished and now I need to make the fence sashing and borders.  The green I have is not going to work, so I am waiting for my green to arrive in the mail.  

I have been resisting several amazing fabrics that have been calling to me all the way from Connecting Threads.  I put the green (mini spots and squares) in the shopping cart, then decided I should buy a couple of those fabrics on my wish list, so I can get the free shipping!  I bought Anjalina, Georgiana, and Margaret from the Jane Austin line, and Marpesia from the French General line, and some tea time fabric to top it off!  I am so excited, I can hardly believe it.  I confess, I am a fabric junkie.

I got all the eyes and nostrils cut out and appliqued on, this last weekend. Whew, that was a chore I did not foresee!  I am ever closer to crossing the finish line, just waiting on the right green fabric for grass:

Happy Veterans Day!

I have today off from work.  I can work on finishing my bandana quilt.  It is an old quilt top that is both hand-pieced and machine pieced, so it is lumpy, uneven, and not squared up.  Phyllis and I consulted over it, last week, about the best way to handle putting borders on it.  Last night I pressed it again, this time with steam.  I straightened one edge and measured across it to even up the other edge, so multiple points across the quilt equal 58 inches, or within a quarter of an inch.  I measured both sides and cut the side borders at 70 1/4 inches.  I got those sewed on last night.  Today I can wrestle with the top and bottom borders then move on to the backing.   Meanwhile, I completed the quilt that I named Phyllis' Phorty.  The star blocks were given to me by Phyllis.  I made the quilt top and backing, and she long-arm quilted it.  It does look stunning.

I photographed it at the Boise VA Medical Center, on the porch of Building 4, which is the old surgeon's quarters.  The building has been renovated, and now functions as offices for Telehealth.  My helpers are Erik and Cody.  The quilt pattern is a modified version of a pattern called Rita's Rose Garden, by Sandy Berry, "Quick and Easy Romantic Quilts."  I used 3 inch sashing strips and my central blocks are bigger than hers, so my quilt is also bigger.  What that means is, I made a bigger quilt with fewer blocks. 

What's on the Design Wall in November?

That small, off-the-cuff, Halloween wall-hanging has inspired me to make an actual Halloween quilt.  I started by making three blocks, while out camping near Bruno.  I finished twelve blocks and they are on my design wall.  I have cut some two inch strips of my light fabric for the sashing and rearranged my blocks, to my liking, on the wall.  

The trouble is I have two unfinished quilt projects that I need to finish by mid-December.  I seem to have lost my momentum.  One of them does not need a design wall, so I will go with that one first.  I am planning to start on it on Saturday, with the help of a friend.  I need a second opinion on how I should attack it, due to it is an old quilt top that was both hand-pieced and machine pieced.  I is not square around the outside and the inside is not exactly flat.  I want to put a border on it, to bring it all together, before Phyllis gets to quilt it.  Smile.  If I am diligent this weekend, I can have it all ready to go to the quilters by Sunday evening.  Then I will be down to one UFO to get finished this year . . . and I can do it!