Finally Finished - A Bit Askew - and some Christmas sewing

 I took this one out of the bin in March and thought…no. It went back in the bin.

And just like that, it was 3 months later and the deadline for it was less than a week away. Funny how that works out.

So almost 3 months ago I got the top on the design wall and thought, that’s not so bad:

Then I thought, does it really need the borders? 12 years ago I had planned, and cut, two borders. But I was really liking what I was seeing on the design wall.

But what was I going to do with the borders I had already cut? I decided they needed to be on the quilt. And then I thought, maybe I should turn that solid orange into a flange (the strips were 1” wide) and hey, why not miter the borders? Yeah, let’s go with that!

The flange turned out great, but mitering the borders was a complete waste of time. You can’t tell they’re there, but they are! Another lesson learned, so that’s good.

Then it was onto the backing. I had some fabric left from the shop—they were panels designed by Ranae Merrill that were really popular but the red/orange color way didn’t sell as well as the others. I thought they would make a great backing for this quilt. I had to drive over to our storage unit and dig them out.

And when I found the backing fabric, I found the label! That was a good day.

Once I finished piecing the backing and cleared off the sewing table, I began to work on basting the quilt. The quilt is approximately 70” x 90”, and there’s not enough space anywhere in this apartment to be able to spread it out and spray baste it. I couldn’t do it on the design wall because it’s a heavy sucker.

I called Katrina and she graciously allowed me to have a play date with her to (1) have a good visit with Tonka Toy and quilt this one and (2) help disassemble Tonka Toy once again; since I started this post, Katrina and her husband have moved away. 😭 While they’ll be in the northwest corner of our state and a 3-ish hour drive, there will be no more popping in and out of our homes. But we haven’t had that for 20+ months now. Pandemics suck.

Bonus on the label: It was printed by Spoonflower 2 or 3 years ago, and I realized I left off the date. Another great thing! I embroidered 2021 after I took this photo.

And now this quilt has been gifted to our daughter, Kelsey. We went to Memphis to spend Christmas with my sister, and the next day we made a very quick trip to Nashville and back; just enough to spend a couple of hours with the girls and give them their gifts (and the quilt!), including our great-granddaughter. Heaven! 

And so speaking of our kids, our youngest celebrated his birthday last week; we had dinner with he and his wife Emma, our son Ross and his fiancé Britta, and Emma's best friend, Hannah. I made bowl cozies and cinnamon rolls and sausage and cheese rolls for everyone of them (and likewise for our other kids and family members). And them promptly announced I'm probably not making anything from now on.

Bowl cozies are fun, but making 50 of them just made me tired! My granddaughter told me I should make them to sell! Uh, no. 

The birthday boy

While I had grand plans for my quilting goals this year, I definitely fell short. I know the year isn't over, but I'm trying to be better about rolling with the flow. And I'm happy with what I accomplished; it still beats my accomplishments from at least the last 3 years. It's good to be back among the making.

And today is our wedding anniversary—26 years! Last year was our silver anniversary and the plan had been to go to Hawaii, but we all know how that went. That’s ok; we will go after we retire in the not-so-distant future. Last year we ordered sushi and brought it home, but tonight we’re dining out. 

I thank you for reading my blog and hope it brings a spark of joy to you. May you have a very Happy New Year, and I’ll see you soon after January 1. I’m working on my sewing plans and—wait for it—another class! 

In the meantime, go make!