Definitely Red – definitely quilted!

I shared the sneak peek of Ben’s quilt on Flickr the end of last week, and I was very grateful for the kind and encouraging response. For a few busy days I just walked past it,  but it finally moved to the top of my list. By Thursday night I had finished the first pass, placing random square spirals across the quilt.

Yesterday I started at the other end, working back to fill in the waves.

It’s the first time I’ve worked from one end of a quilt to the other and back again.  I learned some lessons along the way (the hard way).  I should have basted it as I moved down the first time, as the randomly placed squares made it hard to keep the tension even. Not the top so much, but definitely the back. Live and learn, right?

Zelda has finished her inspection, so it’s just the binding left and it’s finished. Whew!!

Sunday Stitches 11-13-11

What a mad stitching weekend this has been.

Friday evening was supposed to be a marathon to get my challenge quilt finished. And the sheets changed, laundry done, house cleaned, etc. Instead I worked on Kleio. I got far enough with color 1 that I started to worry I might not have enough (I may have been a bit overzealous with the extra repeats at the start).

I weighed what was left, and it’s pretty obvious I’ve knit myself into the proverbial corner. All is not lost (thank goodness ~ because I have no intention of starting over!), and a 2nd skein has been ordered. I doubt I’ll need more than 100 yards of the 2nd skein and I can always use another pair of mitts so I’ll think of it as providence.

Yesterday was a Seattle Modern Quilt Guild Sew-In. I got to show off my tablerunner challenge quilt….top. Yep, not quilted. Apparently the real challenge for me lately is actually finishing a project. Here it is with Laurel’s lovely placemats:

I opted for totally mindless sewing. About 350 identical wedge-shaped strips (leftovers from Moulin Rouge), sewed into pairs. I have lots of ideas for this project, but it’s too soon to tell what it really wants to be.

And today my HQ16 finally got some use. Not by me (reference challenge above), but my friend Katie (Sew Katie Did). Her Scrappy Sunshine quilt is fantastic, the pieced back adorable. Do yourself a favor and keep an eye on her blog – you won’t want to miss seeing her quilt finished!