Word just in that “Who, Me?” currently showing at the QuiltFest Destination Savannah in GA has won an Honorable Mention in the wall quilts category.

I’ve been machine quilting on the next dog quilt, the one that I had put aside to focus on the Jesse quilt. If you were following along, you may remember that the exhibit that I am making this one for does not allow photos to be published before the show, so I’m sorry not to be able to show you the progress. It’s a big one, and the going is slow.

The quilting and blocking was finished on Sunday and yesterday I did the binding and the photography. I love how this piece came out! It finished at 33 x 41″, a nice size.

I had considered doing a facing on this one instead of a binding, but liked the way this, the darkest batik looked, so I went with that instead.  Cut on the bias there is a nice subtle stripey effect. I think it frames it nicely.

As usual, it is very heavily free motion machine quilted with a variety of different threads to compliment the different fabrics. I met the deadline and it will go to it’s first show next week at the Topeka Art Guild Gallery. Be sure and stop in if you are in the area!

It was a pretty gray day with heavy snow falling in the afternoon so I’m not real happy with the pictures and will probably re – shoot, but this will do for now.

The snow did not last and it is supposed to be in the 70’s by the weekend. I will be so glad when we are past the freezing nights so I can get the outdoor plants back outdoors and start working in the garden!

I quilted most of yesterday, except for lunchtime and going for a walk time. The weather has turned colder, but still, it’s pretty nice out there. My snowdrops are blooming, and the grass is starting to grow. Especially in the flower beds…

The quilting is coming along nicely.

Free motion machine quilting is sure quicker than hand quilting, but still, it takes more time than you might think. I have done the trees up to the mid-range, most of the figure and a little bit of water; really any place where there are no pins.

I was having trouble with the exposure setting on the camera, so apologies for the off color!

The top is finished. I had a few small changes and a little tweaking to do but I think it turned out pretty good!

I found a nice large piece of material for the backing that was extra large, so it didn’t need a seam and was a more traditional print so I was glad to find a use for it and get it off the shelf! I layered it with 100% cotton batting and got started with the free motion machine quilting yesterday, maybe 1/6 done so far.

Linking to Off The Wall Friday

It’s coming right along – laying in some color with the reflections.

When I found this fabric in CA, I knew it would work for the reflections and it is, but it needed some brightening up with some batik fabric as well.

Here’s the first finished top from Asilomar – Robin’s Yellowstone piece! It was her first attempt at this technique and I think she did a great job!  Love the reflections.

Way to go, Robin!! She says she enjoyed it, learned a lot and would do it again..

The fabric came and two of the pieces were usable, if not exactly right. I had to “make it work” as Tim Gunn would say.

During the waiting time, I sewed everything that could be sewn. Do you think the hill looks better?  I replaced some of the dark water with lighter, and cut more to fill in around the figure.  It’s coming along.

After my last post, I went online to eQuilter.com and ordered 5 half yards of batik water fabric – none of which was the one that I was looking for, but surely there will be something there better than what I have. In the meantime I have cut what I can but have not been able to sew it all until I get the water, so things are looking out of whack due to unsewn seam allowances. This is what it looks like right now, that dark water will most likely be replaced, and more reflections added.

Linked to Off The Wall Friday

This photo is a little fuzzy but shows yesterday’s progress. I think I need to shop for more “water” like what I used in “Longhorn Splashdown”- now THAT is water fabric that really looks wet! What I have may be too dark.

It snowed almost all day yesterday, so it was great weather for sewing! Here is what I had at the end of the day. So far I am pretty happy with it, but still may make some changes. The black line of the far hill is bothering me a little bit, but on the other hand, it IS a nice graphic line. I will live with it for awhile and see what happens.