Back to Borders Again

Another rainbow quilt has made it to flimsy stage!  And so begins the debate about borders....again.  Rainbow rows of nine patches got simple frames alternating in light and dark grey with snowball corners.  I could extend the diamonds into the border, or just frame it out in red and black.  I don't know how much grey is left.  That might be the deciding factor.  The nine patches were leftover from Mai Tai Sunrise.

You can see them as the alternate framed blocks between the stars.  I still have some 2 inch squares already sorted into rainbow colors, and some more extra nine patches.  I wonder what the next quilt will be?

Mai Tai Sunrise is Done

 I just took the last stitch in the binding of Mai Tai Sunrise and ran out into the front yard for a photo shoot.  It looked great against the grass.  The colors really make me happy.  This quilt is made from a Bonnie Hunter block pattern published in the Addicted to Scraps column in Quiltmaker magazine.  The original pattern came out in September/October of 2012.  I started mine in January of 2013 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for that year.  The quilt top has been done for quite a while, but I was waiting for motivation on the finishing part.  That come on June 30th when Bonnie Hunter put out an all call for quilts to appear in some online workshops that she is doing for the magazine.  My quilt is going to almost famous!  So exciting.

 But it was all angled, so I asked Anna to come out and hold it.  She was on tippy toes, but lacks tall genes.  I blame Kurt for that.  Then two movers down the street yelled that we could come and hold it off the edge of their truck.

And so we did.  Wasn't that nice of them?  I'm off to my ladies luncheon.  So happy to have this one done and ready to mail off to Colorado.

I was informed that brightly colored quilts amongst urban backgrounds are very chic.  So here is a photo of Mai Tai Sunrise on the back of the truck somewhat less cropped.  

Binding Time

 I was awake at 6 in time for lifting, but did not go.  My back has been killing me since Saturday.  Bench press day, hard to hurt your back during bench press, but somehow I managed.  Instead I went and finished up the last of Miranda's T-shirt quilt before morning camp drop off.  Binding will be next.

First though, I am SO close to finishing the binding on Mai Tai Sunrise.  I might just be able to get it off to the post office today.  I have a ladies luncheon to go to at noonish.  Linda, my next door teacher and Patty, our super sub extraordinaire are planning it together.  I'm not sure what to expect, but it sounds like fun to me.  If I am diligent, I might just be able to run to the post office on my way to the luncheon.  I have been pretty productive lately, so it might just work.  

Sunday Funday

 I still went with a pink for the Mai Tai Sunrise Binding, but I decided on hot pink rather than pale.  I think it works with the bright colors. It is ready for hand stitching as soon as I find a chance to sit down.

First though, I needed to finish the top for Miranda's T-Shirt quilt.  

It just needs a backing fabric now.  This is all that I had on hand.  Nothing quite perfect, so I might need to make a trip out.  Not today though.  Today I think I need a little nap.  Waking up at 4 isn't without its price.  

Slowdown for Sunday

 I woke up bright and early this morning ready to finish off the quilting on Mai Tai Sunrise.  I'm ready to make binding next.  I was thinking pink, but now that I look at it next to the top, I'm not so sure.  Maybe I'll dig a bit deeper into the stash.  Hopefully I can get the binding machine stitched down this morning and spend this afternoon slow stitching with a movie marathon.

 The quilting on Mai Tai was a freehand swirl, it doesn't really show up much, but it adds nice texture.

 I honor of Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts, I pulled out the Orange Peels finished up on our last trip.  It looks like 18 blocks got hand stitched during the driving time, all while enjoying an audio book with Kurt while the kids watched movies in the back.  His family is already planning the next vacation, so there will surely be more Slow Stitching to enjoy soon enough.

The poor t-shirt quilt was left awkwardly hanging out not quite done on the floor when I decided to finish up Mai Tai Sunrise.  It will be next on the list.  Just a few borders and I will pop it onto the frame.  I have a fabric in mind for the backing.  

Excitement Abounds

 It took the morning to get Mai Tai Sunrise ready to go onto the frame.  First it needed to be ironed, and then the kids needed to go to the gym, and then the back needed to be pieced, and then the kids wanted lunch and the laundry needed to be taken care of.  You've all had those days too, right? By dinner time though, the quilting was well under way.

 After debating for a long time about thread, I decided to use three.  The blue on the bottom part is already done, and the yellow is about halfway.  Pink will have to wait for morning.

Just when I had decided I wasn't going to be able to finish up the quilting today, Kurt said there was a package waiting at the front door.  It was my new GO Cutter!!!!  My last one got a little broken while I was squaring up crumb blocks.  I thought about just giving up on having a die cutter, but I've already got quite a bit invested in the dies, it seemed a shame to waste all that.  I also thought about getting an exact replacement, but that seemed to be redundant.  So after much consideration and angst, I went with the GO! Big.  It's electric.  While I don't mind cutting fabric in general, I have used the dies quite a bit and it is so much faster than the rotary cutter.