Finishes and Starts

Yesterday, just before dinner time, I finished the 'Goodnight Irene' quilt.  It could have been done sooner, but of course, I can't do a quilt without some problems.  I sailed right through the quilting until I got to the last row - the poly thread only broke once until the last row and I had to load a new bobbin - then it was breakage again and again.  I adjusted the bobbin tension just a smidgen to the right and then back to the left... either Mo'e doesn't like fully wound bobbins or my tension is wrong -- or it's something else, I don't know.  Anyway, I kept on and here it is...

LOTS of feathers - if it's white, it's got a feather on it.  I knew the stitching wouldn't show in the colored parts so I just outlined the perimeter of each block staying about 1/4" to the inside... then I stitched around the four center blocks and then did a curve on the four corners of the same center blocks.  One of the individual blocks that go around the edge of the quilt is not like the others... I don't know what I was thinking at the time.

I also had some issues with controlling where Mo'e went... there were times that he just wanted to go in one direction and I had to 'fight' with him to get him to go where I wanted him to.  I kept going to the back of the frame to move the power cords, thinking that might be the problem - that he was getting hung up by them, but I don't think that's it.... it could be that there's a thread or two laying on one or more of the tracks... I looked but couldn't see anything.  I'll have to give him another good cleaning before I load the next quilt.

Last night, I started on my first block for the Ugly Sweater Quilt a long that another blogger is hosting ( her design, too).  I don't think my sweater is ugly, but I wish I had used different colors for the sweater- or at least the inside ( 9 patch).

It went together pretty easy... but obviously I did something wrong because the sleeves ended up longer than the rest of the sweater and the background.  Once I trimmed them off while squaring up the block, I ended up with 12" x 11 3/4" when it should have been 12 x 12.  I'll just have to 'fudge' something later to make the block fit in... or start over and make a new one.

While out running errands yesterday, I stopped at The Hen House and purchased my block two for the Amish with a Twist BOM - and found some turquoise batik to use on the Scooby Doo quilt as an inner border.  The AWAT block will wait a few days... today, I start on the SD quilt!!  No more 'dinkin' around.
  I'll admit I'm nervous about doing it, but only because I don't know how to handle just a HUGE applique'.  I don't want to use a fusible ( like Heat n Bond) so how do I cut the pieces?  Freezer paper patterns is my solution.  But I'm getting ahead of myself - FIRST, I need to assemble the background fabrics... center, inner border and outer border.  Sounds simple, doesn't it... so why am I so nervous about doing it???
Well, enough stalling.... I'm going to eat some breakfast and then get started.  Wish me luck!!

TTYL