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| Finished Quilt |
I finally finished the Irish Chain quilt for my friend's daughter's 21st birthday gift! I started it back in August! Cut out the pieces on August 23. I had all the 9-patch pieces sewn by that Saturday. I continued to sew on it on Sunday and, by Monday, August 31, I had the entire top sewn. But then, on September 1, I had my biopsy and things sort of went in a different direction. I did other sewing projects and procrastinated on finishing the quilt top!
And then, when I got back to sewing the quilt top, I had some difficulty with sewing the borders on, getting things to come out evenly and neatly, etc. I didn't have enough of one shade of blue for all four borders, so I used two different shades! There was a particular piece of fabric I had in my stash which I wanted for the backing, but it turned out to be a bit too narrow, so I had to sew two strips of the border fabric to it to make it wider. The blanket I used as the filling turned out to be uneven and I ended up cutting off a strip! I hemmed the borders by hand and my wrist hurt for two days, afterwards, and I had to rest my hand. It got to the point where just finishing the quilt became a challenge!
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| Quilt Back |
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| Close Up of the Backing Fabric |
Once my hand got better, I hand quilted a single row all around the outer edge of the quilt border, to keep the blanket from shifting. Then, I tied the rest of the quilt, using blue embroidery thread.
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| Borders |
It is not perfect, but it is done! And I used up four big pieces of fabric from my stash, as well as several smaller scraps. This was a good stash buster quilt!
Now, I can turn my attention to knitting myself a warm hat and a different quilt. Not to mention sewing some Christmas gifts!
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Today, in between sewing on the quilt, I cleaned the kitchen, went for a short walk, had my aunt and cousin visit in the afternoon, and cooked rice, smoked sausage, and bok choy for dinner. Breakfast was bread rolls sandwiched with roast turkey; lunch was rice with the ground beef mixture (there's one last serving of the ground beef mixture left). I didn't go Black Friday shopping! Last year, I did some fabric shopping on Black Friday, but this year, I stayed home!
Today, I am grateful for:
- Finishing the quilt!
- Family visiting
- A walk in the sunshine and fresh air
- Daughter's company
- A relaxed day
Did you go shopping today? If so, did you get some good bargains?
Pretty quilt:-) I didn't go shopping. Way too crowded for me. I went out once before, plenty enough to convince me to never do it again. Stayed home and took care of Little Wolf. Poor guy is sick. (Which is why it is now 4 am and I'm still awake.) Will most likely be heading to a doctor today.
ReplyDeleteJess, so sorry to hear that Little Wolf is sick. :( So hard when little ones get sick. Hope he gets better soon. Please give him an extra cuddle from me. And try and get some sleep!
DeleteThat looks so beautiful, you can see that you thought it was worth the fight. The person getting it is very lucky! Sybil xxx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sybil. I made a quilt for her older sister's 21st birthday, too, last year. I've known these girls practically since they were born. I'm friends with their mother and grand-aunt and the girls have become good friends with my daughter. I enjoyed making the quilt top - it's the rest of it that I don't like as much.
DeleteA lovely quilt - well done for finishing it x
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela. :)
DeleteCheck with the American Cancer Society for the services they offer. http://www.cancer.org/index
ReplyDeleteThank you Marylynn. :)
DeleteAlso http://www.tlcdirect.org/. They have nice looking hats and scarves. The cancer Society provides rides to treatment.
ReplyDeleteMarylynn, thank you, again, for being so helpful. I took a quick look at the websites and read a bit. I will go back and read more, later. :)
DeleteJust wanted to tell you that is a beautiful quilt. I've always admired people who quilt. My best friend has made me several quilts that I just love and use all the time.
ReplyDeleteI saw that another reader said you should check with the cancer society. When my son had a fast growing tumor on his leg they sent us out of state to Calif. for his treatment/surgery. Back and forth all summer they were so awesome. Took care of our hotel bill, meals and some of the transportation. It was such a blessing. Also around here they have several beauty shops that the cancer society sends people to to help them get nice wigs and learn how to do makeup if they lose their eyebrows. They are such caring people. I hope they are as wonderful where you live as they are here. Take care.
Thank you, Crystal. Hope your son is well, now. I am in So. California. I am glad you were helped by the Cancer Society; I shall give them a call and see.
DeleteThe quilt is beautiful.. know the lucky girl receiving it will be thrilled..
ReplyDeleteSending prayers .. So happy you got to spend the week , with your daughter.
Thank you, Judy. :) It's been a lovely week. Hope you got to spend the holidays with your family.
DeleteBeautiful!! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dawn. It was well received by the birthday girl. :)
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