The SD Ashley quilt is done, bound & washed. I had forgotten how long it takes to sew the binding on a large quilt like this. I think I like the "modern" side (aka "back") better than the "traditional" side. I finally found a fabric for the binding that I like. The blues are a perfect match for the ones in the quilt and the print makes a stripe effect that I like. My only disappointment, is that compared to the stark white, it looks a little ivory. Oh, and don't worry, the sides are nice and straight...the wind was blowing. (Took the photo between the snow flurries and the hail storm, when the sun was shining.) It's quilted on the diagonal and on close inspection, the lines are a little wavy (no officer...I haven't been drinking and sewing...)
While I was working on these other projects, my friend Emily came to my rescue and pieced the colored columbine blocks together with these flying geese. I'm so lucky to have a friend like this. ( And the cost of the bribe was well worth it.) Now that I see this from a distance, I'm having second thoughts about the green in the corners. We never considered red when we were test driving options, and that might complete the frame better. Otherwise, I might have to add another border outside the geese...which just means more quilting for me. Anyway...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Emily!!!
I generally abhor anything that has to do with a sewing machine. ( I was traumatized by a terrible machine in my teens that liked to jam and skip stitches.) Since my current machine and I are on reasonable terms, I decided to machine quilt the black & white columbine, using the walking foot. I borrowed an idea from Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio who uses the decorative stitches on her machine to make wonderful, wavy line stitching. Mine, only has 9 options, two of which work for this idea. This didn't photograph well, but the floral sections have random width (as you can see with the white markings) lines that look like a rows of brackets { } stacked on top of each other. (You can see the stitching better if you double click on the photo for an enlarged version.) Around the frame sections, I was aiming for the look of a fancy molding, You can kind-of make that out in the top left corner...the sequence is straight, wiggly, 4 straight close together, then a squarish zig-zag. I'm hoping this will be more obvious after it's washed. The only glitch on this quilt, is that I couldn't bring myself to machine quilt the white sections. I had planned on echo quilting, but realized when I was doing the framing sections, that I would go nuts trying to do so. And since every attempt I've made at free-motion quilting on my machine has been a disaster, that wasn't an option. This adds several hours of handwork to the list, but I know I'll be happy with the result.
So the only goal that hasn't been met yet, are 3 more blocks for the Joseph's Coat quilt along for the next cut-off point. I am, however, making progress. I have the center 3 petals of the final 17 blocks, basted. Check out the group site on Flicker to see some great pictures of everyone else's progress. BahayKoobo is finished and did a color wash version that is absolutely stunning.
Well...I'm not making any progress while sitting at the computer....I'm off to quilt.
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