Down The Home Stretch!!

 #16 is FINISHED!!

Would you like to see it??

One,

two, 

three!!

Julie of Pink Doxies machine quilted it for me with a lovely overall design in light gray thread.

This double-size version of my Courthouse Stars pattern is going to a young friend of mine named Ophelia.  It started as a teaching sample for the last few workshops I taught using this pattern.

(You can find the pattern in my Etsy shop and for the month of November it is 20% OFF with the coupon QUILT.)

One of my goals in making teaching and shop samples is always to expand the design's appeal.  When I make a sample from a pattern, I never use the fabric style from the pattern envelope.  My goal is to broaden the appeal of the pattern. It is a good strategy because it expands

 my customers and students ability to look beyond the pattern cover.  The downside for me is that I have quite a few quilts that aren't "my style", so I'm always glad to find a happier home for one that doesn't fit with my home décor.

That large floral in the backing is an older Jane Sassaman print I just "had to have" and then because it is so beautiful, I couldn't cut into it???  

(Tell me you have that hang-up, too.)

So, I've started using those big gorgeous prints as backings because I don't want them to go for pennies in the BIG yard sale. 😏

Also, I should say that piecing the border as it is in this version is not in the pattern.  I didn't have enough of the large print that I used as the basis for the color palette so stash busting with the "piano key" border was the best solution.

You know what else?  #17 is layered and the machine quilting has started!!

These circa 1900 quilt blocks caught my eye at a show several years ago.  They were set together with a 1920's solid green and I bought it so I could save it from the wrong sashing.  I took the quilt top apart and replaced the sashing with an assortment of reproduction shirting prints.  The fabrics in the original blocks are almost certainly clothing construction leftovers.  I think it was intended to be a utility quilt so have kept the quilting simple with cross hatching in the blocks and stitch-in-the-ditch for the sashing.  Since it's a larger quilt, I'm quilting it in two sections and will add borders after joining the sections.

But wait, #18 is two-thirds of the way to being quilted!!

Two more blocks are finished.

I'm enjoying the "big stitch" quilting partly because it's easy on my hands but also because the quilt is going to drape softly and be a good cuddler -- excellent attributes for a lap quilt.

I might actually make my goal of #quilt21in2021 -- woo-hoo!!!  Striving for my goal has been a success even if I fall a quilt or two short.   I am accepting my energy limitations and discovering simpler quilting strategies that make me confident about finishing every quilt I start going forward.

As 2021 nears the end, it's time to start thinking about my quilting goal(s) for 2022!  Possibilities are presenting themselves.  Use 222 yards of my stash?  Deal with the antique quilt tops I've hoarded over the years? Do something about the remaining UFO's in the studio?  Start as many new projects as I want?!?  Cull my stash?

So many possibilities!  During December, I'll inventory the UFO's and antique tops and my want-to-make-that list.  That's always my first step in making an annual goal.

Back to the quilting!!

Mary