Swimming Along

Ignore the fact that this top needs a good pressing, and the light has washed out the colours a bit. Oceane's quilt top is done, the back is done, and I need a nap to get it basted.

I wanted to give you a binding tutorial, but the Monster just woke up from her nap and will not let me use the computer without incessant demands for the Baby Beluga video and a tour through You Tube. Hopefully I can get to it on the weekend.

As I was getting the binding done yesterday and snapping all the photos I realized that I want to add a few more tutorials - on mitered corners, labels, and yes, squaring up a quilt. Soon to come, a series on all the finishing touches for your quilts.

All Squared Away

My mom went home, I'm almost done the course of antibiotics, and I even worked out today. Yes, I feel relatively normal again. That should last until I go to the dentist this afternoon.

Inspired Improvisation is almost done. I finished the quilting yesterday and got it squared up this morning. I don't know about you, but I like to square up my quilts before I put the binding on. Some do it after it is on and stitched down. I used to do it after I first sewed it on. Then I got a quilt back from the long armer and it was all squared away for me to attach the binding. Much greater success.

Oddly, the process of squaring up and cutting away the excess fabric and batting is my favourite part of finishing a quilt. This is the moment where it actually becomes a quilt, not just a bunch of cotton fancily put together. Sure, binding completes it and the label tops it off like a cherry, but the loss of the trimmings shapes it into a proper quilt.

Up next? Pieced binding, and I'll post a tutorial on that.

Mommy!

I'm back on the couch again. This is about the fourth week in a row - from a cold to a stomach bug to my neck and now mastitis. Do you think my body is trying to tell me something?

There will be no quilting for the rest of the week. I feel like I've been hit by a bus, square on my boob. I've spent the last two days on the couch. At least I finally finished the binding on this quilt last week. Something to snuggle under while warding off the chills. It still needs a label, that's why I haven't posted about it.

In the meantime, I'm waiting for my mom to arrive. Yes, I called my mom. Yes, I feel guilty about that. But last night proved that if Hubby is tired then he can't really manage the girls and I. While the Monster is in daycare today, tomorrow she will be home and we will both struggle if he's trying to work and I'm trying to rest. Thank goodness my mom was free and willing to drive down. To be honest, I think looking after me is a break from looking after my dad! And she gets to see her youngest grandkids in the mix.

And now, Northern Exposure is about to start and I need to pretend to tidy before my mom arrives. Seriously, why do we do that? But I can at least put away the breakfast dishes and maybe clear her bed of the laundry piled on it. And of course, make sure she has a quilt to keep her warm at night.

Odd Quilting

It's all about where you get your inspiration.

The quilting on Inspired Improvisation is well underway. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked it. But ultimately I was too lazy to rip it out. I took the idea for the quilting from the fabric that features prominently on the back and in some blocks on the front. Now that I've done more it is growing on me.

It is a sharp contrast to the angles of the pieced work. Originally, I was going to do a bunch of straightline quilting to echo the piecing. I have a tendency, however, to overdue it when it comes to quilting. The pattern I decided on is forcing me to have a bigger design. Because this will be a snuggle quilt I wanting something that would ultimately drape a bit better. The closer you quilt the stiffer the quilt itself.

I'm on a mission to get this quilting done and the binding on by the weekend. I might be up in Edmonton next week and want to visit the recipient in the hospital, hopefully bringing the quilt with me. Simple things like dishes, voting, blogging, and picking up the car from the tinting place will slow me down... but they won't stop me.