A Quilty Day

I've spent the day working on a couple of different quilt projects. This morning, I set my tables up on the patio and got busy pinning this quilt. I thought I'd get an early start before it got too warm outside, but despite my best efforts, it took quite awhile to pin and it was starting to get pretty warm before I finished. Can you believe I used up that whole box of pins you see sitting on top of the quilt? Getting this quilted is my next project, and I'll start on that tomorrow.

This quilt is a monster--king sized and a little more really. I wasn't sure the extra wide backing I bought was going to be large enough, but it was just perfect. I purchased a batting a few years ago at Connecting Threads on a trip to Oregon and have been saving it for the right project. It's a light weight cotton, and since this looks to me like a summer quilt, I thought it would be perfect.

As you know, I've been working on getting this other top pieced and thought I had finished the border strips last night. When I thought about it, though, I decided the plain squares I had cut for the corners of the border weren't right for the quilt, so I spent much of the afternoon today making four corner blocks similar to the center blocks. I think they look much better than what I originally planned. I laid it out on my daughter's double bed and it's plenty large enough; in fact, it would probably fit a queen. I think this is destined to be another summer quilt, because the greens, blues, and golds remind me of the beach.

Well, I think my fun's just about over for the day--now I need to head back into the Sweat Shop and get everything put away and retire the Bernina for a little vacation and set up the Juki for some heavy duty quilting. I'm not looking forward to the aching shoulders and arms in the next couple of weeks from quilting my monster quilt, but I really love this quilt, and I'll be happy to turn it from a quilt top into a "real" quilt!