I accomplished more this year than I thought I did....

Update on July UFO Challenge

Well, I finally got it completely loaded onto the frame... tried a couple of patterns that I didn't like and ended up ripping out, then I tried new 'erasable' pen.. purple on one end and blue on the other... the blue is a little stubborn about disappearing; I've had to spray some areas SEVERAL times.  Guess I'll be sticking with the purple but am trying not to use either if I don't have to.

Anyway, I kinda goofed on some of the triangles and make the crosshatching small... it looks ok but it's a real pain.. of course, the larger cross hatching is almost as bad since I can't seem to get it lined up right every time.  I'm having some issues with my machine, too, which doesn't help.  I don't think the new ruler base is going to work as well as I was hoping it would.  For one thing, there's a small gap between it and the machine head right in front of the needle.  Other times, Mo'e just seems to want to go off in another direction when I'm TRYING to get him to ride right next to the ruler.  I think I'll blame it on the weather  LOL.  Well, it is stinkin' HOT here and I've lowered the a/c down to 73degrees.

Ok, here's part of what I have done so far....

See what I mean about tiny cross hatching?  If it was in every block, I wouldn't be doing it.  There are four floral blocks in the row... I have finished the crosshatching in three.  The next row has blank blocks that I have to fill with the 'loops' (like in the tiny crosshatching) around the edges and cross hatching in the middle.

If you're standing close, it looks kinda ugly in spots, so I'm going to make sure that no one gets an upclose look - from a distance it will be fine.  And it's for me and I love it despite it's quilting flaws :).

I thought I would just whip right through this and have it done by July 31st, but now that I'm actually working on it and knowing that hubby has dr appt tomorrow and we'll probably be going over to his son's either Thurs or Fri to see his daughter who is visiting from Georgia, I think it's going to take longer than I'd planned.  Oh well, it's already taken almost 8 years to get it this far... another week or so won't hurt.

TTYL

Tiger Paws

I didn't do any sewing today - but did spend some time on Pinterest trying to figure out how I want to quilt my Daisy Dance quilt ( my July  Challenge UFO).  I finally gave up trying to find something that would 'fit' in the blank squares; I already knew what I wanted to do in the blocks with the flowers in them and I found an idea for the outer border... I didn't find a lot of ideas to use in the blank squares/blocks and finally decided I'd see if I could find the picture of the pattern online.  I looked - nope, not a pic good enough to see the quilting.  BUT I did see a picture of the magazine it was in... I knew it was Fons & Porter and 2009, but that's about all.  Once I saw a pic. of the magazine, I went looking for it in my 'collection'... YAY!  found it... and, although I didn't like the quilting in the blank spaces originally, now it doesn't seem too bad - and something I can definitely do.  So, I think I'm ready to start quilting it this coming weekend.

Yesterday, I made some more tiger paw blocks and have enough for one side of the quilt top

- plus a little extra... arghhh.

 I decided that I'm just going to add a narrow sashing/border with a cream 'grunge' fabric. I really don't think my grandson is going to question or care about it.

Maybe tomorrow night I'll work on making some more blocks... I think I need seven more for the other side border... after I get these two side borders on, I'll decide whether I want to do the same for top and bottom borders - if I do, I may have to resize the pattern again so that they'll fit without me having to make any more 'design decisions'.

Ok, that's it for tonight... I have to be up at the crack of dawn in the morning to take hubby to another dr's appt... grocery shopping after that; then, probably a nap LOL

TTYL