A productive weekend

Lots of quilting happened at the Cabin last weekend!

Aunt Addie's Blue Ribbon Quilt, which I finished quilting during the week, received it's binding and is officially FINISHED.  It turned out to be such a sweet little quilt.

Aunt Addie's Blue Ribbon Quilt - sew along
designed by Kathleen Tracy

Three borders went on the Moda Love quilt.  The center blocks are from a gift pack of Pam Buda fabrics that I won through her blog.  The red border - which matches perfectly - is a Thimbleberries fabric I found at the local thrift store a while back.  Inner and outer borders are both chocolate brown.  This one turned out to be queen sized after all.  It will probably go in the pile to be quilted this winter sometime.

Moda Love

I also tried to work on Cheddarback month #6 blocks. Lesson learned - don't try to do these from memory.  Where were the directions? At home.  Typically I stitch and cut 3-inch squares into 2.5-inch half square triangles.  So, off I went, without realizing that Gay from Sentimental Stitches had us cut them down to 2-inch HST's.  Of course, nothing fit right.  I fiddled, I re-cut, I trimmed down... I made a lovely block.  But it's the wrong thing altogether.  Fortunately, I stopped after making just one, and  I had enough extra fabric to re-do the block.

Wrong block on the left, Correct block on the right.

I seem to have to re-make a couple blocks each time.  But, of all the crazy things, the one with the difficult set-in seams (upper left small block) went together perfectly the first time! 

I love this quilt - much more than I expected! 

Remembering Cheri monthly sew along

The last two buttons have been sewn on and Remembering Cheri is ready to pin and quilt.   One block for each month of the year, plus a few odds and ends in Cheri Payne's distinctive primitive style.  The pattern was available through Quilts by Cheri Friendship Group on Facebook. 

The pattern is also supposed to have a lot of applique in the outer border, but I'm just not an applique quilter.  At least for now, I'm saying I'm done! 

I learned so much from Cheri, even though I have a different preferred quilting style.
1.  You don't have to follow the pattern!  Make a quilt your own.  If you don't like a certain element, change it!
2.  You don't have to have things perfectly match.  Colors, fabric lines or points.
3.  Spontaneity brings joy and motion to a quilt.
4.  Work outside your comfort zone for a change.

I have difficulty quilting applique pieces like this with lots of buttons and trim things on it.  Perhaps just a meander that avoids all those things will work.  And what was I thinking when I didn't change the Whale?  There aren't whales in Minnesota!  I think I was just too busy (lazy) last August to change it to a sunfish, bass or walleye.  Do you think it will always bother me?