Big finish...

Back from our new year's break at the shack with some big finishes under the belt!
First up....the dreaded 'One-a-day 9 patch'. This was a BIG quilt. I'd got into the habit of making small lap sized quilts and the thought of quilting something close to a single scared me. However, I girded my loins and got stuck into it with a big finish on the 31st! Yay! The quilting did take longer than I thought and I was lucky enough to be able to squeeze the sewing machine into the very full car.

It's quilted just outside the ditch in a grid (some are a little wonky due to lining up) but overall I'm pleased. It feels heavy and cosy. The backing is scrappy and incorporates some of the left over patches in strips. And the binding....oh the binding....is divine. It's Heather Bailey's Ginger Buds. Just gorgeous. It was meant for another quilt I'm (still) working on but the colour was perfect for the colours of my patches...I obviously select from a particular colour pallet. I was sewing the binding on in our not very efficient cooled fibro shack at 39 degrees (yes, even Goolwa hit the max that day!) determined to finish before year's end. I think the little buds got me through.

So much so, I started the re-quilting of mum's Paper Dolls quilt later that day. It's quilted in a cross hatch in the centre 6" patches, stippled in the first border and then straight quilted in the second border. Again, beautiful fabric to set your heart racing with each stitch. I'm very pleased with the re-do. And I even managed to pick up some more of the little outfits used in the outer border at Strathalbyn on Saturday....discounted no less!

Here's R & L on New Year's Eve wearing the one-a-day and another little quilt that now lives at the shack. Thank goodness for the cool change. I made the scrappy 'beach house' (that's rich for the shack!) earlier this year out of my then scraps and judging by the condition of my scrap swell, I could do with making another. Happy new year, happy quilting.