A finish and a fail

Of all the charity quilts I've made, this Sorry! inspired Goose Creek quilt is by far my favorite.  It's hard to part with, but knowing that a child in need will find some comfort in it lessens the sting. 

 

The ladies of the Love Circle (of do. Good Stitches) did an amazing job making these blocks, and I adore the end result.  I always thought I liked modern quilts, but this one feels very vintage-y and I'm completely charmed by it.  In fact, after I wrap up a couple of other projects, I think I may make another to keep.

After finishing Goose Creek earlier this week, I intended to piece the backing for Kieran's brick quilt.  An error in calculations held this process up last month, a fact I conveniently forgot.  Since working on K'S quilt calls for a fabric purchase, I decided to move on to "41."  The back was carefully cut and methodically pieced last night.  After pressing the new backing, I laid it down over the quilt top and... something's rotten in the state of Denmark. 

The backing is a full 17 inches too narrow.  I ask you... 17 inches???  Not to mention the major puckering in the middle of the quilt top (see how lumpy it is under the backing?).  Will it quilt out?  I don't even know.  I have a horrible feeling that when I make the quilt sandwich, no amount of smoothing will make it lie flat.  There is most probably some painstaking un-sewing in my future.   

Summer update

It's funny how a summer that feels busy to me can seem boring to my children.  At dinner tonight, Antonio remarked that the summer has been lonely (read "boring") so far.  This, after a six week visit from his grandmother, a mini-vacation in Twain Harte with a side trip to Yosemite, July 4th with family friends, day-trips Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Francisco, a couple of trips to the movie theater, and a week-long "summer camp" here at home with friends.  What's a girl gotta do to keep her kids entertained?  Sheesh!

Now that our guest is gone and things have gotten back to normal, my sewing mojo is slowly returning.  Lots of progress has been made on the binding for Goose Creek, thanks to an encore showing of Sharknado on Syfy, and some late night "Arrested Development" on Netflix.

This quilt should be finished in a day or so, at which time I can get back to Kieran's quilt.  Or my own quilt.  Or this chair.  Or curtains for the kitchen.  Or something from this book...

On the fabric stashing front, I made a little purchase at Joann's this weekend.  Upon walking into the premium fabric section, my eye was immediately drawn to these prints:

I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were a collection called Rosette from Juliana Horner.  It's the first collection from Anna Maria Horner's eldest girl.  Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  There are four prints not represented here because I didn't buy them.  I'm thinking to go back to buy this one and this one.

In other summer news, I can't believe in a few short weeks Antonio and Martina (or as Kieran calls them, "Big Kids") will be back in school.  Martina's last year of elementary and Antonio's first in middle school.  I think I just got another gray hair. 

Midsummer Sewing

It feels like forever since I've sat in front of my sewing machine, but in actuality it's only been a week.  I took a short hiatus to run "camp" (which was pretty much a week of playdates at home) for my children and two dear girls of close family friends.

The plan this week was to baste and quilt Kieran's brick quilt, but the last of the blocks from the Love Circle rolled in this week, and I feel compelled to finish the do.Good Stitches quilt first.  Especially since I have two completed d.GS quilts waiting to be sent off to Wrap Them in Love.  Horrible, horrible... but they really will go out as soon as I finish this latest one.

And so, that is the only WIP on the books this week.  Here's a parting shot of the Sorry!-inspired Goose Creek quilt top:

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.