Meeting the Deadline

The #Belfastbulletin has met its deadline. We have a flimsy! I say "we" in the plural as this quilt is oh so much more than just me. I had set the target/aspiration of being able to link up the flimsy finish with Myra and Busy Hands Quilts and her Finished Or Not Friday link up. I tend not to link up here unless we are heading towards a finish, and definitely try to aim to coincide with it. Matter of personal pride.

I made the remaining 10 blocks needed to add the extra row. This made the quilt up to 12 blocks in a row, and 11 rather than 10 rows deep. At a final 7" per square that's oh, 84" x 77". I know most quilts tend to be traditionally oblong, longer than wide. Generally I like square quilts, but for double bed quilts, I like them to be wider than longer. As explained before, I have been married for a long, long time, to the one man. The secret to the happy marriage is to have big enough bed covers. Skimpy bedcovers, cold nights, territorial wars, no sleep, grumpy daytimes. I wonder do the marriage guidance counsellors ever take this into account? But I repeat myself.

The weather was dry enough today to try and get a couple of photos outside. I asked "him" to help me. He held up the quilt for 5 nanoseconds and asks, are you done yet. The usual when it comes to holding up quilts for photos. One shot and that's it.

Back in the house, I was looking at the fence, the ground really was quite dry today. As I headed out the door with the quilt, I heard a muttered "pain in the arse". Next thing the quilt was successfully pegged up on the fence and he was taking photos for me. Result.

I must admit I am rather pleased with this. I should say quietly pleased. It is rather a quiet quilt, Sarah's ombre hst quilt pattern was designed as a quieter version of the bright hst quilts. Such as Postcards from Sweden. You can just get a glimpse of my "writing corner", how pompous! I look forward to reading on this seat when the weather warms up.

Next I played about with the backing. I have 3.5m of this Cotton and Steel buttons fabric, but not all in one piece. It was a bolt end plus a couple of pieces. Sure, aren't I cutting it up anyway? I like pieced backings, bit more interest in them. I had set aside all the offcuts from the original squares. I have pretty much pieced them into a ladder. I think I will have one long ladder running the length, off centre. The right hand side, or maybe the left, but probably the right will have a sideways ladder running off.

Regular readers will know that I usually coincide my hairdresser visits with a run to the pile it high fabric shop. My roots are nicely showing so on Thursday I will get the wadding and hopefully have the backing pieced by then. That leads up nicely to the weekend for basting. The sewing machine repair shop is nearby too, so I will drop my Pfaff in for a service, it has been faffing around a bit. By the time I get the basting done, the machine should be ready for collection again. All neatly done!

I have made a teeny tiny bit of progress with the bright Postcards from Sweden, my #writingfromWhitehead. The photo is rather boring, but I have the first row pieced. I am going slightly different this time. Instead of making the blocks then piecing the quilt,  I am making the blocks as needed and joining them together one at a time. Time and Motion. Remember that? Again, I think organisation is the key to this.

Knit wise, I have nearly finished my V for Valentine socks as designed by Ellie Jones of Craft House Magic. Ellie has a knit a long for this, and it is drawing towards a close soon. I have just got to the toes of my second sock. I have used Ellie's own Strawberry Fields Forever yarn. Ellie names her yarn after 1970s pop songs. Being photo ready, I bought some red heart Lindt chocolates for the photos for this. They doubled up as a Valentine's present for my husband. I  feel a pressing need to buy some raspberry ripple ice cream as a photo prop too! This photo is a bit dark, better photos to come. And the stitch makers? This time I am determined both socks are going to be the same size!

So, plans for the weekend? Are you doing anything nice? Myself and my daughter, my sister in law and niece are going out for afternoon tea tomorrow with my sister and her daughter to celebrate my sister's "big" birthday. The nice thing about this is it also Mother's Day here in the UK on Sunday. Again multitasking!! Mother's Day my husband usually cooks, but this year my daughter is making dinner for both of us. Where ever you are, I hope you have a good weekend.

Helen x
linking up with Myra and Busy Hands Quilts and Finished Or Not Friday