Quilt for a Smile Status: Complete

Early this morning I stitched down the last inch of binding on my first completed project of the New Year: the Mod Mosaic quilt for Quilt for a Smile.  Not too bad of a turnaround time for me- I started this quilt the first week of December, had a quilt top two weeks later, and now a month later it's done.  It was based on Elizabeth Hartman's floor pillow tutorial, pieced from Patricia Bravo's studio scraps, and is destined for Project Linus (you can see other Quilt for a Smile projects here).   

Large cuts of fabric were used for the "tiles" because I wanted to maximize the yardage of Pure Elements in cabernet that came with the scraps (cutting it less meant I had less of a chance of running out of it).  Plus I was a little lazy. 

I tried to finish before the BAMQG meeting on Saturday, but I had a little binding drama Friday night.  Thankfully I decided to start hand-stitching at one of the corners, which happened to be one of two that were not totally square after I quilted the sandwich.  In trying to keep the binding straight when I was sewing it down, about 1/16"inch of batting was left exposed in each of these corners.  These were on the opposite end of where I joined the ends, and I thought I was going to have to rip back most of the binding.  Luckily, I was able to keep the un-sewing and re-sewing localized to the problem corners, but I had an unfinished quilt to show at the guild meeting.

This quilt is also the first completed project for the Finish-a-Long hosted by Quilter in the Gap.  It's early days, but I think I may have aimed a little low for Q1.  With one of three projects already finished in the first week of the quarter, I may be able to start a few projects to set myself up for Q2.

In the meantime, I'll be moving on to my next unfinished project, the Urban Chic quilt for Antonio, and hand-stitching the binding of a quilt made by a friend of mine.

Finish-a-long: Q1

I thought I'd share a couple of notes my children posted on the refrigerator during the holidays.

Notice the difference in their tones.  Antonio was firm, but polite, in his note.  Smiley face and stars to generate a positive response.  Martina skipped the subtlety altogether.  The "thank you" is tacked on merely as an afterthought.  I guess they figured the time had come to stop asking me nicely when their projects would be finished and flat out demand that I finish them!

Rather than making a New Year's resolution to finish all of my WIP's, which just begs failure, I'm joining the Finish-a-long at Quilter in the Gap.

Rhonda had the brilliant idea of hosting a quarterly contest to encourage quilters everywhere to finish outstanding projects.  Projects we loved enough to start, but whatever the reason, we just didn't seem to get around completing.  The week before each quarter, we post a link to the projects we intend to finish during that particular quarter.  At quarter's end, we post a link to each completed project. 

At the top of my list for Q1 is the Mod Mosaic charity quilt top made for Project Linus in December 2011, fabric courtesy of Patricia Bravo (blogged here).  The backing fabric is in the bottom right corner.  This project needs to be sandwiched, quilted and bound. 

Next up is Antonio's Urban Chic quilt top, which I pieced in June 2011 (blogged here).  Backing fabric is in the bottom right corner.  To finish I need to sandwich, quilt and bind it.  My guy's been so patient.  I really should be a good mommy and finish this quilt. 

Finally, I have a baby quilt to make for my neighbor, whose baby boy was born on Christmas Day.  I have a stack of HST's and extra fabric leftover from this charity quilt I made earlier this year for 100 Quilts for Kids.  Since my neighbor admired the quilt so much, I'm going to make her the same quilt, minus the fabrics with pink tones in them.  To finish, I need to make more HST's, piece the top, then sandwich, quilt and bind it.

That's all I can handle this quarter.  There should have been another quilt on this list (the one Martina demanded I finish).  But since writing the note above, Martina has lost interest in her finished quilt top and has requested a new one.  It's to be a Mod Mosaic quilt using Patricia Bravo's Poetica in the Seafoam Symphony palette.  Thank goodness that collection isn't on the market yet!  Poetica is slated to be released in February, so that gives me a little time to finish up these other quilts.