Wandering Flamingos - Grand Finale

And so, the quilt that spoke my aunt's name all those months ago is done.

Pieced, quilted and bound.
Labeled.
Given.
Loved.

It was perfect. It made her cry. And I find there is really nothing more to be said.

Crafty 4th of July

Or, I could stay motivated and get the borders on today... Go figure. Like everything else about this quilt, it just kind of happened without any angst on my part. So, its done. I need to iron it again, and the backing, and I can baste it for quilting.

This means, the entire quilt top has been cut and pieced in exactly a month. Definitely a record for me. (And slightly weird that it would be to the day.) I'm not going to press my luck, though. That's it for today.

Holiday Progress

I woke up early this morning and used the extra quiet time to finish the center of the 'Wandering Flamingos' quilt. It was really nice piecing along while listening to the Declaration of Independence being performed on NPR. A lovely start to the holiday.

I'm really happy with how its coming out. Perfect for the intended recipients back porch and oh so Florida.

All I have to do is add the border and the quilt is pieced. Easy peasy, right? But, for some reason, the border is always my least favorite part of the quilt center. I think its because my wonky seams show up more and there's less visual interest to keep my attention away from them. But, I'm going to take the plunge and get started this morning. Hopefully, I won't just let it sit for weeks if I've got things started.

Puzzling It Out

All of the blocks are done, and now I have to choose the right arrangement. This I am not willing to leave up to the brown bag trick. I need to have a good balance of colors and contrasts or the whole thing will fall apart. This quilt has been too much fun to end up with a result I don't like. That and its intended as a gift. So, I have been arranging, re-arranging and then re-arranging yet again. I'm not at the point where I'm just getting fiddly and its time to take a deep breath and just go for it.

The first time I thought I might have it:

Oops, there's a decidedly light spot up there to the top right.




Second Try:

Isn't it too dark over there at the top left?




Third Try:








Uhm. Is this getting better or worse?




Okay, I'm giving myself five more minutes and then I'm labeling them and living with it.

Wandering Flamingos

This is the very beginning of the new quilt I keep hinting at. It's actually a kit, and while that's not my normal style the wonderful fabrics seduced me. The ladies at Quilt Shop of DeLand have a great eye. The pattern is Yellow Brick Road.

I've been trying not to over think the color combinations of the actual blocks. For large parts of this quilt, I've used the 'brown bag method,' dropping the pieces in a bag and pulling them out randomly. I laid out these first nine squares to make sure I could live with the random color collections and in keeping with the theme I didn't allow myself to fuss with the order of the blocks, though I did rotate them as necessary. I wasn't sure I liked it until I took the photo to see it in better perspective. I'm very happy with how it is coming out.

I'm also addicted. These 9 blocks have grown to 24 very quickly, with 'just one more block' before work. Or walking the dog. Or bed. You get the idea.