Ready for quilting

The Halloween top is finished! I've also finished stitching the back - using up all the leftovers from the sashings as well as the strips I cut for possible inner borders! I even have a light colored strip in the back where I can write the label information! This quilt is now number four in line to be quilted. I think I need to focus on doing some quilting this coming week!

A huge thank you to everyone who so freely shared your opinions. They really helped me decide what to do. I tried so many different things - I even looked in the stash to see if there was a border alternative I'd not considered. As I tried different things I was able to eliminate bit by bit, and finally made my decision this morning. I decided not to use a narrow inner border because I really didn't want anything to take away from the 1" squares around the edge of the quilt. I also realized that the "dead trees with owls" fabric was the best choice - I just needed to make the borders narrower so they didn't distract from the quilt center. I settled on 3 1/2" wide, and I love how it looks. I really wanted to use this fabric, because it's so perfect for a Halloween quilt. Leafless trees in a dark, stormy-looking night, with owls perching in the branches as the final perfect touch. Now I'm eager to get this finished, as I really want to display it this year.

I also made a decision about the spring blocks thanks to everyone's suggestions. It never occurred to me to split them up. I've put the basket block in the orphan block drawer to go into a donation quilt. I'm going to border the two long vertical blocks, as well as the three little blocks, and turn them into a set of three small spring wall hangings. Those should finish very quickly. The bunny will turn into a pillow for Easter decorating, and the sunbonnet girl into a spring pillow for the entry bench. That just leaves the clothes line - not sure what I'll do with that one. Maybe add it to the orphan drawer too. I can't begin to remember who made it, so it doesn't have any special meaning for me. Now I'm eager to get going with these projects. A huge thank you to those sharing ideas for these blocks - they really helped me get my mind around the problem of what to do with these blocks.

Sure felt good to finally cross another unfinished top off my UFO list!

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Gratitudes:

1. A great visit with Lily, Sophie and their parents.

2. A wonderful evening spent with friends

3. Enough stamina to increase my time on the exercise bike

More ideas

Since so many like the "dead trees", I tried it with a narrower border of about 3". Liked that much better than the wider border, but forgot to take a picture. Tried a narrow inner border of the dark green - it got lost. The narrow inner border of a lighter, brighter green is better, but still doesn't wow me. I think I like the narrow orange inner border - at least better than the green - but I still think I like it better without any narrow inner border.

I have another set of blocks made by the same group of ladies for me. The subject was "Spring", and I provided a packet of fabrics for each of them. These are from 1992!!!! They aren't nearly as successful as the Halloween blocks - in my opinion anyway - but I want to do something with them. To me the big pieced basket doesn't "go", so I think I'll use it for a label on the back. I had a serious falling out with the lady who made it, who moved away at least 15 years ago, so I'd rather not see it on the front of the quilt at all.

Anybody besides me remember these fabrics? They were 1980's calicoes - about all I have left since I gave the rest away for charity years ago.

I'd love to have your opinion

The Halloween Quilt is finished as far as inner borders go. I could leave it this way - with just the checkerboard border - but to me it looks unfinished. So I've decided to add another border.

Here is the first alternative - what I call "dead tree" fabric. (Click the picture for a better view of the fabric.) I love this fabric - I think it goes marvelously with Halloween. It's also found three other places in the quilt - it's behind the gravestones and it's the background of the bottom two stars on the lower right. This is the fabric I planned to use. But now that I have it all laid out I'm wondering if it's too dark - that the eye is drawn to the border first and not the center of the quilt. Maybe it just needs to be a bit narrower. Or maybe I shouldn't use it at all.

My other choice is this green Moda marble. It certainly accents the quilt without drawing the viewer's eye from the center of the quilt. It's pretty boring however. But maybe a boring border is what I need. I also wouldn't have to piece this border - or worry about design orientation like I do with the "dead trees". Or maybe I should toss both of these back into the stash and look for another choice

When I was pulling fabrics to go with these blocks I found this panel that I'd completely forgotten about. I love it - I think I need to make some Halloween pillows for the couch and the entry bench. Don't you agree?

Almost finished

Well, I just couldn't help myself - instead of doing what I should have been doing I kept working on the Halloween quilt. The top is now done except for a checkerboard border, and possibly a final border. I decided I wasn't willing to take the time to appliqué two more blocks - I want to move on to something else - so I dug through my stash to find a couple Debbie Mumm fabrics with borders that would be a good substitute. I think the witch works well. Frankenstein doesn't work quite so well because of the darker background behind the figures. It makes the bottom left corner of the quilt look a bit muddy. I decided I could live with it however, so muddy it will stay.

I never thought I might have this done in time to display this year, but considering how far along the top is that just might happen. About time I think - these blocks are from 1993. It is my second oldest UFO. The oldest is a set of blocks from the same group, done in 1992. They depict "spring" and are just as varied in size as these are - if not more. I just may tackle them soon - I'm on a roll when it comes to putting together odd-sized blocks!

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Gratitude:

Lily's bilirubin levels have finally started to drop, so she shouldn't have to go back to the hospital for an extended stay under the lights - an answer to my prayers.

Looking back at the past week

Every day I've promised myself I'd find time to post, and by bedtime each day I realized that it hadn't happened. I have four folders of pictures to put into posts that are waiting to be written. I've just not stopped running so I could do so. Hopefully by the end of today - there, a public commitment - maybe that will make the difference. If so, there will soon be a flurry of writing after a week of drought.

I will say this for now - the last two days I've not being doing any of the things I should be doing. Instead I've been working madly on this Halloween quilt. As I looked at the blocks on my design wall I started to get some ideas. So of course I had to try couple of them. Since then it's been "I'll just do this much more, and then I'll put this aside". I think I've told myself that at least a dozen times the past two days. Hasn't happened yet!

So what do you think? This certainly shows how a bunch of dark, uncolorful blocks can be brought to life by the right setting. I'm sure having a lot of fun with this! I'll have to make a couple more small blocks to balance the tombstones on the bottom - otherwise it's just a matter of making more checkerboard sashings and then adding the last border.

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Gratitudes:
1. Several days of marvelous fall weather before our rain arrived yesterday.
2. Lots of seasonal fruits and vegetables making a beautiful addition to our meals

Random ramblings

I had such plans for this week. So many things I wanted to get done. So how have I been spending my morning? Mostly sitting in a chair at the computer. Didn't even shower and dress until almost noon. You see one of my goals was catching up on my blog reading - you've heard that song and dance before - right? It always takes longer than I think it will - even if I skim posts that aren't really quilty. I'm trying to comment - I had not commenting! In the meantime little guilty feelings keep nagging at the back of my brain. I have put away the clean laundry and washed sheets - that's something, right? And now the Bloglines website seems to be having problems so I can't even move on with my reading. Maybe someone is trying to tell me something?

Sophie and I scored big when we visited the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. I've been telling myself I need to do that at least a couple times a month. Why not have wonderful fresh vegetables and fruits right off the farms when they are available? So I have a stir fry planned for dinner - can hardly wait. The first picture shows our bounty - can't figure out what the flash bounced on to make that glare. I also couldn't resist the marvelous flowers. I'm not at all talented at flower arranging but I don't care - this looks great in the corner of the dining room!

As you all know, I'm focusing on UFO's again this year, and finally making good progress. Unfortunately, I'm getting really tired of UFO's. As I told Finn a couple days ago, I was really missing playing with my scraps. Just seeing what she and some of the rest of you are doing has be aching to dip my hands in that big string box or open that box of hour glass blocks. But I'm going to be good - at least for awhile longer.

So I got out a season-appropriate UFO that I've not touched for years and years. According to my UFO spreadsheet I received these Halloween blocks in a round robin in 1993. This was a round robin where I made the "inspiration block"(the first picture), tacked it to a 4" grid, assigned the appropriate number of squares for each participant and then started passing it around. As each person covered their assigned number of squares with one or more blocks - tacking them onto the grid also - it becomes more and more of a challenge to the next people in the robin. I love all these blocks - some are so very creative! (Click to enlarge for a good look) What I'd forgotten is how dark, gray and black they all are! Very little orange in them at all. I took them off the grid years ago, and now have no idea of the original arrangement. No matter - I've decided I need to add a bunch more blocks - with lots more orange - to brighten this quilt-to-be. I even have dark gray, brown and black fabrics chosen for sashings and borders! So once Lily's quilt is finished I think I'll start looking for more block ideas for this quilt. It would be nice to have it finished for this Halloween don't you think - only 15 years after I made the first center block!

Tangled Threads is meeting here tomorrow night. Today and tomorrow we are supposed to hit 95 degrees - really unusual for this time of year! I'm ready to email my pals and suggest we meet somewhere else tomorrow night - somewhere with air conditioning! Another Thread is taking care of dessert - I sure hope it's something having to do with ice cream! In the meantime four giant tubs of fall decorations are sitting in my living room. I've taken off the tops - does that count as starting? I just can't seem to find the motivation to actually work at anything. Maybe that's because I spent the last three days chasing after a 19-month-old?

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Gratitudes:

1. Nature's seasonal bounty

2. Precious grandchildren

3. A safe trip home for Jeremy