Apple Picnic Quilt

It's the last day of February and I am sliding in with the second UFO finish of the year. 

My goal for this quarter for the 2013 Finish-A-Long is to quilt one unfinished top per month.  I got this basted on Monday afternoon, but then work ramped up and all of a sudden it was the evening of the 27th.  Yikes! I needed to carve out some time to quilt and bind this baby.  I finished quilting it at about midnight, and then this morning I bound it (by machine, of course, are you kidding me).

I'm not a last-minute person.  I don't like waiting until the eleventh hour to do something, although sometimes it happens that way and I can deal.  Some people thrive on the adrenaline rush of an imminent deadline (and those people amaze me).  Mostly it just makes me cranky.

But I'm feeling good that I can check this one off the list.  It's throw quilt size, but I imagine it'd make a nice picnic quilt.  Like, three months from now.

I had some hesitation when I opened the sliding door to take pictures on the deck today.  The snow was drifted up against the screen door.  You can probably guess by now that I am so ready to flip the calendar page and say goodbye to yet another month of winter.

So these are "throw-snap-go" pictures.  I donned my snow boots and other paraphernalia, but it was still too cold for dilly-dallying.  It was sure a lot more fun to take pictures of the top last September!

Here's the pieced back.  The quilting won't win any prizes, but after it's washed and crinkly, it won't matter anyway.

The pattern is called Breathe.  I really like snail's trail quilts and know there are more in store for me in the future.  I challenged myself to use a funky vintage apple print I found at the (wait for it...) thrift store.

It reminds me of the place we used to pick apples, on the outskirts of town, called the "Apple Pick-Nic Nut Farm."  Not only were the apples amazing—some varieties the size of softballs—but the name was a lot fun to say.  The farm has been since sold and all the apple trees chopped (I know, sad).

Hey, you know what?  I think I'll name this quilt after that place, in memory of those fun apple-picking times—the Apple Picnic Nut Farm quilt!

Linking to:

Finish-A-Long Q1 List

I don't know if there's a statute of limitations on "what I plan to do in 2013" posts, but it feels like I'm late to the party.  Not that I haven't been thinking of it, or that it took me 10 days to put this post together; I've just been finishing up some other things first.  Anyway...

There is carryover into the new year in the form of several UFOs, which I aim to finish in 2013.  To keep on track, I'm going to hitch up with the 2013 Finish-A-Long with Leanne at She Can Quilt.

Here are my projects to finish in the first quarter of 2013, one per month:

"Number Three"

Snail's Trail

"Hubcap Diamond Star Halo" 

(music video on the layout process here)

All are quilt tops in need of quilting.  I procrastinated on them in 2012, thinking that after working through the 2012 Free Motion Quilt Challenge, I'd have all sorts of new skills and confidence.  I did a couple months' worth of tutes right on track in the beginning of the year, and then life got in the way and I got behind and really just dropped the ball.

Fortunately, most of the tutorials are still available, so that's something else I plan to do in 2013, revisit the FMQ Challenge.

But that won't hold up the show to finish my UFOs, even if I have to meander stipple every last one of them, or (better idea?) send them off on a fabulous vacation to the longarmer!

I think it's a very manageable, short list for this quarter, and still gives me plenty of leeway to see what other trouble I can get into, too!

Breathe Quilt Top Finished

The snail's trail top is officially a flimsy.  I've been referring to it also as the "Breathe" quilt, as that is the pattern name.

This went together very well.  The snail's trail blocks were fun to piece.  The alternating blocks were sewn onto foundation paper—I used phone book pages cut into squares.  It tears off easily and is nice and lightweight.  And I think the odd apple print worked out okay after all!

Now to find a suitable backing or make one.  I had a bolt of a cute print fabric in my arms at Joann earlier today, but I put it back.  Need to shop the stash first.

I enjoyed a  great audiobook while I sewed this week, Dearie:  The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, by Bob Spitz.  It is very well written, and the audio version is superbly read by Kimberly Farr.  I highly recommend it, especially if you like biographies, food, things French, cooking, mid-century life, or hearing about the hijinks of clever tall gals!

Thanks for the input on the cornerstone conundrum, those who chimed in.  It was very helpful.  Hubs was initially in favor of the yellow-gold option, but once he saw the finished top, he was happy with the turnout.

I'm linking with Sarah's Friday linky, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!  Better late than never!  This is also a NewFO for September, so I'll be linking to Cat Patches in a few days as well.  Can you believe it's already the last week of the month?  I can't!

Cornerstone Conundrum

Here is the Breathe quilt laid out on the floor.  The pattern calls for cornerstones between the sashing strips.  I am holding auditions. 

You'll note the outer border will most likely be the black/gray print, probably not quite so wide as it is folded here.

First up is the yellow-gold.  The camera flash gives this combo a ketchup-and-mustard quality, though I do like it in natural light as it seems to pick up some of the yellow-golds in the apple and black floral prints. 

(#1)

Second (below) is my old standby, black with white dots.  I have used this many times before.  I hate to be redundant but it seems to add a little spark without making me want a hotdog.

(#2)

Third (below) is a gray on black print which doesn't seem to compete for much attention at all against the blocks.  There is a subtle difference between noncompetitive and dull, however, and I can't quite decide which category this falls into.  Alternatively, I could use the same print as the outer border, a similar gray on black whose effect, I imagine, would be much the same.

(#3)

Any thoughts?  Preferences?  Other suggestions?

No Bad Apples, Just Misunderstood

For having started the week feeling overwhelmed, I am happy to say that I gradually found focus.  I wanted to start something new but felt discombobulated in a major way, as if my brain had kicked over the whole bucket list, scattered it like a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle and said, "Here, you figure it out."

Surveying my disaster sewing area, I saw old stuff stacked upon new.  I poked my nose into a big thrift store bag and revisited some strange 1970s looking pieces.  I looked at my stash, piled on no less than 6 surfaces, then at another bag from a recent red tag sale at Joann containing mostly Denise Schmidt yardage.

When all else fails, it helps me to pre-wash and press fabric.  Sort of a mindless thing, but that's what I needed—to quit thinking.  And sure enough, as I handled the big snarly pile of disparate items from the dryer, snipping the threads that had hog-tied the mess hostage, I started to feel better.

As it happened, while waiting for the iron to heat up, I started riffling through a box of miscellaneous stuff on a shelf and found a pattern squished down in there that I had forgotten all about.  Out of sight, out of mind.

A snail's trail quilt was on the bucket list and had been for a long time.  I liked this pattern when I saw it over at em's scrapbag over a year ago and bought it.  It was scrappy, involved a block I've wanted to try, and had alternating string-type blocks to boot.  Winner!

There is something about the challenge of an odd fabric that appeals to me.

Maybe it's that soft spot for the underdog.  Maybe it's the inherent conflict of such a piece that I want to resolve.  Ever the peacemaker.  Maybe I've seen too many movies where the nerdy wallflower mixes in with the popular kids and they both benefit.  She still retains her individuality and both factions come away with broader view—and in the process someone usually gets their comeuppance.  Justice.

Meh, who knows.

So this vintage-y apple fabric is a little bit out there.  The colors are bordering on neon red, yellow and green while something about it still says country.

I began to see other stuff that might play along.  "Might" being the operative word. This DS Quilts print, in particular, seemed amenable.

And after making these two blocks today I have a pretty good feeling it's going to work out.