The photo is big but the wallhanging is small, 26" square. I thought I wanted to do a lot of stitching on this one but once I had finished the ditch quilting I decided to extend the lines of the "ribs" in the column with matching hot pink thread and decided it was done. The hot pink is brighter than it looks here. My camera makes it look a little more coral/pink. I am not a believer that black binding is the answer on every quilt but in this case, there was black in the piecing so the binding had to be black.
I ended up using the first fabric that I considered for the binding. At first I thought it was too dark and kept looking for something just a little lighter. I either didn't have enough or the color just wasn't right on all of the others so I was back to the dark brown with black lines forming little squares. I used a medium brown Superior SoFine thread to quilt it.
The back is made of 3 of the largest pieces of flannel I had left. I have lots of half yards but not much in big pieces any more. The quilt ended up at 64.5" x 80". I used Warm and Natural batting because it has scrim in it and stabilizes and gives body to the pieced flannel top.
I loaded the quilt on the longarm in the morning. I quilted it late afternoon. I love the backing fabric.
I used a grayed lavender thread which shows up a little on the darkest fabrics.
It also shows up a little on the lightest fabrics but on all of the rest I could hardly see it. That made it hard to see where I had already quilted. I used a large meander and 80/20 Hobbs batting.
This is the fabric brand of most of the fabrics.
I used the leftover backing fabric for the binding and finished it by machine.
The backing fabric is used in the front of the quilt too. It finished at 59.5" x 77". I will use it in my living room. I just love the Australian fabric prints.
I found a dark navy blue print in my stash to use for the binding on the African blue modular quilt. I am a little over half done with the hand stitching.
I printed a label for it a long time ago, maybe 5 years ago. Luckily I knew where it was. I finished the quilt top in 2011 and I think I basted and ditch quilted it in 2012 and just now finished the rest of the quilting.
About a week ago I was moving all of my Amaryllis bulbs outside for the summer and I noticed one had a bud peeking out. Usually a late one just dries up and dies but I watered this one and it has been growing. It will be a few more days before I know what color it is.
I think my binding choice is working well. I have almost 2 sides of the hand stitching done.
It was another beautiful day yesterday, hot but a nice breeze and low humidity. I planted my zinnia seeds and mowed the grass as well as pulling more weeds. After all of those rainy days we had I feel like I have to take advantage of every dry day and get out and get yard work done. Now it can rain again and water the zinnia bed and tomato plants for me.
I got my colorwash trimmed and then started looking for a binding fabric. I needed it to be dark on this one because the entire edge of the piecing is dark.
I also needed to take into consideration that it would look good with the backing fabric. It is a muddy brownish green batik print.
I spent part of the day outside because the weather was beautiful. The rain missed us this time. I pulled and dug out more weeds and cut some dead branches. I have purchased the zinnia seeds but didn't plant them yet....maybe today.
Today is Memorial Day...a day we remember and honor all who have served our country and sacrificed to keep our country safe and strong.
I sewed on the binding and finished it by machine last night. It ended up 47" x 59". The source of the pattern is here.
I have a box full of 2.5" strips so I just pulled out nice intense contrasts to the yellows that would be the background.
I think the backing fabrics look good with the front. The binding is the same gold fabric that is on the back.
My granddaughter and two great-grandsons came over yesterday morning to bring me some Smores cake. It is yummy! She made it in the Rockcrock (by Pampered Chef) in the microwave.
Yesterday afternoon I pulled out large pieces of batik to find one to back the quilt on the left. I decided on the beige one with the circles. I got the seam sewn but haven't pressed it yet.
I am showing my items in reverse order today. Last night I worked on quilting this tablerunner and cut and sewed on the binding. I am almost halfway done stitching the binding by hand.
Earlier in the day I worked on this back for a quilt. I don't usually put this much work into a back but I had the center 12 blocks and they just weren't turning into anything. I didn't have enough of the red plaid for the back of this quilt so I split it on the fold line and pieced in the 12 blocks plus 2 side panels.
The red plaid is one of the Roberta Horton fabrics from the 1990s.
Yesterday morning I noticed I had a bloom on the cactus that is from my mother-in-law's plant. It didn't bloom last year and I didn't even notice the bud on it this year. I look at all of my cactus plants every day hoping for more blooms.
This second shot is just because it is so pretty.
March 10th was my parents' wedding anniversary. Today would have been their 80th anniversary. Mother passed away 8 years ago and Dad 3 years ago so they did celebrate their 72nd anniversary.
I didn't plan to finish a quilt yesterday. Mid afternoon I decided to load this flannel tumbler quilt on the frame. Next thing I knew I was quilting it.
I used a medium brown thread on top and bottom and it really blended in well. In fact it blended so well I couldn't always tell where I had already quilted. I used a large meander and Warm and Natural batting. I decided the flannel needed a batting with scrim in it for the quilt to keep its shape with hard use.
I used one width of the darker piece of flannel on the back and a half width left over from another flannel quilt added to make the backing wide enough. The quilt is 61" x 82.5". The binding is one of the flannel plaids used in the the tumblers.
