Yesterday afternoon about 3:00 I heaved a big sigh of relief. I finished quilting my friend's wedding quilt! Of course it will seem totally worthwhile when she gives me the check tomorrow - another payment on the longarm - but I am glad to have it finished. Except for the frustrations with the border it was a fun quilt to do, as she always gives me total creative license as to what to quilt. I don't have a picture of the whole thing yet 
- it really does look beautiful - so I took some quick snaps of three blocks to show you for now. There are 5 blocks with appliqué and 4 blocks with photographs. She does lots of quilts with photos on fabric - she freelanced for Hewlett Packard for several years helping them develop all their materials for printing on fabric, including their label making program. This has made such a beautiful wedding keepsake for her niece! I sure hope they have a good wall for displaying this quilt.
I also spent quite a bit of time on the Broken Dishes quilt, and I'm happy to report that by the end of this evening the top should be together except for the final borders. I sketched the quilt on graph paper Friday evening so I would know exactly how many more blocks to make, and learned I was 29 short. It's a good thing I cut all those new half square triangle squares. But somewhere I went wrong - I'm still 19 squares - one row - short! I can't for the life of me figure out what I did wrong - how 
could I count graph paper squares incorrectly? (The fact that I can't even count correctly anymore is scary!) I kept thinking maybe a row dropped on the floor behind something when I wasn't looking - but a search of the room turned up nothing. So I need to make another row today before I can stitch it together. In the meantime I'm including a couple pictures of my progress. This has been so much fun!
As I was laying this top out in the hall last night to make sure I didn't make the rows too long - thus accounting for the miscount (I didn't) - my DH asked what this quilt was for. When I said "our bed", his comment was, "It's certainly bright". Usually he doesn't comment at all other than "that's nice", so this sent up red flags for me. When I asked him if he didn't like it, he was quick to answer, "It's fine." Who knows what that means? It is colorful, but that's OK. I'm counting on a wide dark border to tie everything together.************
Gratitudes:
1. A finished customer quilt
2. Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner
3. A cold glass of white wine on a hot evening
4. Flavored no-calorie water - I like Fruit-2-O.
5. Rotary cutters, mats, and rulers
************
So many things to talk about. Have you tried the Garlic Chicken pizza of Papa Murphy's? It's really light eating for hot days.
ReplyDeleteI love the wedding quilt. Can you imagine if you had your grandmother's like this? When I look at your broken dished quilt (I love it , by the way)I keep want to ask you about your pressing techniques. It always looks so flat, even, symmetrical in photos, what's the secret? In a quilt like this-- with so many small pieces-- that has to play a big part.
Melanie
I really like your broken dishes quilt. If hubby doesn't like it, it will look great on my bed. My hubby is used to bright and doesn't expect anything else. If I make a not so bright quilt, he comments how that just doesn't look like me.
ReplyDeleteDJ is a good one for "its okay/fine/alright" meaning to me that it isn't any of those things or he would not have said anything.
ReplyDeleteTell Mr. Fred that he is going to have his eyes shut when he is under it anyway.
Come to think of it that very colorful pinwheel was the one of the few quilts lately that got beyond the "that's nice"---he actually like the jumble of colors and thought it really looked like a quilt--or more old fashioned and what he was raised with.
Oh, who knows!? LOL somedays I tire of talking in code.
the wedding quilt is really lovely - I used to have that book, gave it away in a fit of purging the quilt supplies but I don't think I would have made the blocks anyway.
ReplyDeletelove, love, love you broken dishes - it really inspires me to get crackin' on some scrappy quilts
smiled when I read you DH's reaction... After many years of training by various males in my life, I'd take the code to mean -- it's bright. No judgment, no feeling, just a statement.... And hey, if they don't voice a problem, take it as they're happy with the situation :-)
ReplyDeleteYour scrappy Broken Dishes is bright and cheerful and colorful - all things I love!
ReplyDeleteYour customers niece sure is lucky to get such a wonderful keepsake of her wedding.
Cheers!
Evelyn
Lovely Wedding quilt! Lucky niece!
ReplyDeleteThe wedding quilt is beautiful and I am looking forward to see the whole thing. The HST quilt looks so good from here. More power to the scrap users :-)
ReplyDeleteVery lucky girl, the quilt is beautiful and your quilting is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteLove the brightness of the broken dishes too!
Both the wedding quilt and the "bright" quilt are great. I've been wanting to photographs on a quilt, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I would consider your DH's meaning to be that it is fine. If he wasn't fine with it he would have to tell you so.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the counting problems! I have had cut bindings run away and hide, never to be seen again, so maybe your missing blocks have also run away? It looks great, BTW!
ReplyDeleteThe wedding quilt is just stunning! You did a beautiful job with it.
ReplyDeleteWhat in incredible gift the Wedding Quilt is going to be. I haven't been brave enough to print on fabric. That quilt will produce memories and conversations for many years to come.
ReplyDeletelove how the broken dishes top is coming along! I may show up at your sale yet....love how the wedding quilt turned out-wonderful quilting!
ReplyDelete"it's fine" is husband speak for "that's fabulous"! It took me years to learn that when my husband said "That's not bad", he REALLY like it. Of course he is a Minnesota Swede. Everything is understated.
ReplyDeleteWell I LOVE it! I can't wait to see the whole top!
ReplyDelete