Finished Quilt Top

The top is completed now except for a decision on whether to put a three inch plain white border on it.  That would make the drop a bit longer.  Hmmmm.....can't decide on that yet.  I may have to just look at it for a while.

The other decision is the quilting....do I quilt it myself or should I send it to the long arm quilter???  It is pretty large and would really play havoc on my wrists but it is so expensive to send it out.....again, I will have to look at it for a bit before I decide on either one of those questions.  But I do really love it and can't wait to have it quilted up and on my bed......

Welcome back to my blog.  I haven't done this for such a long time now and really should keep it going.  I have been very busy with my quilting and knitting to the point of obsession and it seems that's all I do these days.  But I do love doing them.

I have so many tops done and really do need to get at the quilting stage, but it seems when you get going on one another pattern flashes before you and the next thing you know you are in you stash sorting through fabrics trying to put together the inventory for another top.  I am just going to have to get down to it and get at those finished tops and that's all there is to it.  Can't sell them if they aren't done.

On my latest creation I have to complete thirty blocks that are 14 inches each.  So far I have twenty done and will work on some more today.  It's a process and if you follow my little trail here of pictures you will see what I am doing.

I can't wait to see this one finished.  It will be so nice on my bed this summer.....light and soft for the heat that will soon enough be on us all.

                                         
                    All the little pieces cut and placed ready to sew together.  This is the first process.

               I like to arrange them in the order they are to be sewn.  Makes it all less confusing for me too.

             I now begin to sew them together in order and do chain sewing to make it go so much faster.

                    Once I have the first two strips attached, they are put together with the other two strips.

 
                                     Now they are put together with the other half of the block.

                                Again I chain sew them together to make it go so much quicker.

                        Now clip them apart and finger press the seams all facing inward to the dark fabric.

When I am working with smaller pieces, I find it better to finger press rather than iron it.  The iron distorts the fabrics and with smaller pieces that distortion can really make your blocks uneven and wonky.  I will press the final block with lots of steam, but I mean PRESS not iron.  Tap the iron down and very little pressure on the fabric.

As you can see here all the seams are facing toward the darker fabric.  This way the dark won't show through on the lighter side of the fabric.

 And here is the finished block.  Now I must tell you this was my first preliminary block and I have changed it since.  I decided, once I had a bunch of the smaller blocks together, to put all the same colour together.  The prints are all different on them but the colour shades are the same.  So it is blue with blue, green with green and purples with purples.  An afterthought and I think it will look nicer and softer that way.

So this is where I am with it so far.  I now have twenty full blocks completed and just ten more to go.  Then it will be all sashed together.  Off I go to do some more......Happy Quilting!