Quilting boo-boo...

One might say that I am working my poor fingers to the bone!!  Quilting on the Civil War Bride is progressing right along despite my quilting boo-boo's.  My thumb and a couple of fingers look awful, but are fortunately still functioning.

I was nuts to think I could meet my deadline to deliver the quilt to the show on April 25...I still think I can.  So all of you who have ventured a guess, the deal is still on!  I've been listening to a couple of books on CD while working...have your read/listened to "The Thirteenth Tale?"  AWESOME!!!!

The housework is in decline and meals are getting a little boring, but the family is coping well with my insanity and are cheering me on.  Thank you for all of your encouragement as well!

I am so behind on reading your blogs and responding to your nice comments...please forgive...I will catch up soon. 

Crispy was curious what I bought at The Quilt Box in Dry Ridge, Kentucky.  They have the best reproduction fabrics!!  I bought some newbies and some "oldies but goodies," mostly from Windham and Moda.  So here they are for your drooling pleasure...

Whenever I need a little TLC and balm for my sore quilting fingers, I just run my hands over these babies and they feel better IMMEDIATELY!  The prescription for sore fingers:  "take two fat quarters and call me in the morning; repeat every four hours, as needed."

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Pictureless Sunday...

Well, I am back from the sunny south!  My daughter and I took advantage of her spring break holiday from middle school to make the 700+ mile drive down to Alabama to see my relatives.  We had a great trip and are safely back home in Michigan.  We left early chilly spring in Michigan and arrived in early hot summer in Alabama...the Dogwoods, Redbuds, and fruit trees were blooming and bulbs and flowers putting on a show.

On the way "down," we stopped by one of my FAVORITE quilt shops in northern Kentucky, THE QUILT BOX.  If you love reproduction fabrics, I think they carry everything ever made.  They are located on a lovely farm, just between I-71 and I-75 in Dry Ridge (where they "split," just south of the Ohio/Kentucky border).  It is worth the short jog off either interstate to get there!!  They have been in business for 26 years and definitely know what they are doing!

Thanks to everyone who put in a guess for the finishing of the Civil War Bride quilt.  Quilting is progressing.

I look forward to catching up with everyone's blogs.  I was away from a computer for over a week and I am behind on email and blog reading.  The Liberated Lady block swap took place last Friday morning during "sit & stitch" at The Quilting Season quilt shop...thanks to Ellen T. for leading our local group, the Seasoned Quilters, on this fun and dynamic project.  I look forward to getting my distribution of ladies...maybe later this afternoon!

In stitches,
Teresa   :o)

Ta-da!! The give-away...

Well, here is the give-away prize for guessing the day and time (before April 25) that I finish quilting and binding my Civil War Bride quilt.  It is a beautiful jellyroll from Minick and Simpson..."Bar Harbor."

Some of you have already ventured a guess.  I am off to visit family down south with my daughter for Spring break, but you can be sure that my project is going with us!!

Happy Easter!

Teresa  :o)

Liberated lady par-tay!! (and have you signed up for my give-away?!?)

I finished my 17 liberated lady blocks for our group exchange (with one to spare...I won't take the one where I had to piece the background after I finished the block due to a fabric defect...).  These were really fun and I anticipate making some more for me when I get my blocks from everyone else.  I am going to finally brave making some of Tonya's free-pieced (un-ruly??) word blocks to sprinkle in with the ladies ("girls, girls, girls").

But that project is going to have to wait until "the bride" is quilted...sigh. 

It's not too late to get in on the betting pool for the day and hour I will finish quilting and binding "the bride."  When I am at The Quilting Season tomorrow I will spy something wonderful for a give-away.  Whoever is closer to the time that I finish (and shout for joy and relief!!) will be the winner!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Three liberated ladies down, 14 to go...AND a give-away!

Yeah!!  Three done!  I'm getting in a groove with them now.  Somehow I forgot shoes on the first one.  We'll see how many more I get done tonight.  Even though our deadline is no longer this Friday but the Friday after, since I'm leaving town this Thursday mine need to be finished in 4 days!  Makes me glad I only need to finish 17 in total.  (and also glad that I did not wait until Wednesday night)

Quilting on "the bride" is progressing OK...I have finished outline quilting all blocks, done what I'm doing to the sashing, and have finished 5.5 of the 20 blocks (and it's not even April yet!).

Michele suggested I should host some sort of "pool" to guess the correct day and hour that I finish hand-quilting "the bride."  I've never done a give-away, but maybe this would be a good way to start.  For those who don't know, I am trying to finish the Civil War Bride Quilt by April 25 (yes...(sigh)...THIS year...) so that I can drive it down to northwest Ohio and enter it into the Annual Sauder Village quilt show.

Before you comment and submit your guess, I should tell you that I work for a church and have to work that morning, so don't waste your guess on any time on April 25...I will have no time between church and starting the 90-minute drive to do any last-minute stitching.

I will find some sort of delightful quilty goodie with which to award the winner and post it soon to entice you! 

So, write a comment with the date and hour of the finish!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Quilting!!!

Basting is done and now I am quilting...YEE-HAW!!!  It's every bit as fun as anticipated!

I'm hoping for a block and a half a day...not very realistic, but I'll try.  I used 3 spools of my mom's old polyester thread to baste a 2-inch grid.  April 25th is my deadline...

In stitches and in-sane,

Teresa  :o)

I finished the Civil War Bride top!!

Ta-da!!!  It all over but the shouting (and the hand quilting, and the binding...).  I'm excited to baste it together tomorrow and get going on the hand quilting.

I did deviate on the borders, but after deviating on other stuff and adding sashing, it seemed normal to me.  It will end up being about 78 x 78 when all is said and done.

Here's the future recipient!!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Last 2 borders...

Here are my final 2 borders for the civil war bride quilt.  The top one is the top border, and the bottom one will be on the left.

Once they are soaked to remove the glue, I will press and trim them to fit.  Then after they are sewn on, I will have 2 leaves and an apple to applique on to connect the motif in the upper left-hand corner.

Riley has a half day of school today and I have to go to her parent-teacher conference this afternoon (and run some other errands).  I am so anxious to finish, but I am looking forward to spending an afternoon with my 12-year-old...she is growing up too fast!!  It won't be long until this will be her wedding quilt!

Check out Lizzie's Civil War Bride Quilt blog...Susi from Germany just posted her beautifully finished top!!  She is the first one to do so...well done Susi!!!!!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Border treatment...half way there!

I've been working on the right and bottom borders, and I attached them last night.  Sorry for the bad picture...this quilt is now too big for my design wall!

I reworked the border idea (big surprise) for two reasons.  First, I decided to make the borders a little less chaotic because the quilt center is so busy.  I really just want to add a frame to the cluster of blocks...not compete with it.  Secondly, even though I have not planned out how I will hand quilt it, I want there to be some places where the quilting will show by itself (now the pressure is on to do something wonderful with the hand quilting - YIKES!). 

I will applique the top and left borders sort of opposite to these two, starting in the top, left-hand corner and moving out, down and to the right.  This will leave the top, right-hand and botom, left-hand corners with only hand quilting showing. 

I like Corliss's "kissing birds" that she uses on her top border, so I think I will feature something like that in the top, left-hand corner, then do vines featuring more fruits and flowers, and add some butterflies.

I decided to add my initials and the date in the bottom, left-hand corner.  I've seen that with other antique album quilts and decided to go for it!!

I will keep going...I'm a little nervous about all this the closer I get to the end.  I am very anxious to start hand quilting it...my favorite part of the whole process.

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

The next chapter...

Now that I have finished the 20 center applique blocks of my version of The Civil War Bride, I can see the finish line...but not before more applique is done. 

I spent the evening yesterday applying a very thin sashing between and around the blocks.  It finishes 0.75 inches.  I got through very late, and had a little post-sewing "freak out."  I had been so sure of the sashing before I started, but once it was done, I was wondering if I should remove the sashing and put the blocks together without it.

I posted this picture on Lizzie's Civil War Bride blog before I went to bed to get some input on the sashing.  I spent an hour on the phone this morning with one quilting BFF and emailed another, contemplating the sashing. Everyone's input has been so helpful, and I appreciate the time that everyone spent sharing advice and comments.

I have decided to leave the sashing as it is.  I am going ahead with an eight-inch wide applique border, although (big surprise) I will deviate a little from Corliss's pattern.  My plan right now is to do this applique on the same background as the central blocks, then bind with the same neutral fabric, but that could change if I feel it needs some sort of additional border from a coordinating print (doubtful - this thing is growing...).

I'm reducing the amount of applique so that there will be some blanks in the outer border for the hand quilting to really show.  It just seems too frantic to me to fill every space in that outer border (sometimes I think I have a touch of autism - I don't like things too busy or chaotic).  I'm also going to applique my initials and the year in the mix somewhere.  I love the antique quilts where the maker did that.  I'm not bold enough to put my whole name in the border, but I like the idea of personalizing it on the front, discreetly.

So, stay tuned...hopefully I will get this figured out!!

Thanks for your support on this project!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)