It's Life Jim, But Not As We Know It.

You know what it's like, the old saying from Star Trek, from the Vulcan man  to Captain Kirk. I have forgotten the character's name.  Well, I have been waiting for weeks for a quilt finish, or nearly quilt finish, and the finish isn't what I was expecting at all.

The What's Through the Window is coming along nicely. All the threads on the front are buried, and I have made a start on the back. To be truthful, I will be glad to see the back of this, Har de Har!

In the meantime, I created a slight diversion. Diversion tactics are good. Sometimes, if I walk away from the pain in the ass, do something else, then I get all enthused all over again. And this diversion? Tea towels. That's right. Tea towels.

My daughter has a friend who is having a baby soon. Very soon. The daughter bought her a lovely Cath Kidston changing bag, in a bird pattern. This is a common pattern with this shop, they have tea towels and bedding in the same range. It may perhaps have been better to buy two pillowcases, but I bought two tea towels. To make a quilt out of. Periodically I hit these periods of frugality, and this was one of them. Tea towels were cheaper than pillowcases.

Time travel forward another month or so, and my daughter was reminding me of the impending baby. My daughter likes to give presents on time, not deliver a card with a promise of a present to come. She's like her dad in that way. Not like me at all!

So last Friday I rather nervously cut up the tea towels into 5 1/2" strips, and sewed them together.

Then cut them up and sewed them again. There is nearly enough, just one square short. I used some iron kona to make up the shortfall. I can embroider the date and name there at the end.

It is funny how the things we least expect,  often give us the most pleasure. I simply enjoyed making this baby quilt. No stress, no hassle, no awkward seams or nesting. No pun intended! It was a pleasure to sew.

I bordered it with "iron" kona, and threw in a little fuschia pink to brighten and lift it. We must spell Fuschia differently in the UK, blogger wants to correct my spelling.

Next to the backing. I knew I had a little pink gingham from eons ago. From my first incarnation of quilting around two decades ago. I have given away a lot of fabric from that time, too dated now, but I always held on to the little remnant of pink gingham. I always used to used gingham for backing at that time. The gingham was just a little shy at the top.

 So I used the tried and tested method of cut it all up and sew it back together. The trick is look as if it is all part of the plan. I think I got away with it this time.

Keeping in with the abundance of less theory here, I opted for simple quilting. A foot's  width either side of the seams and around the border. I, surprise surprise opted for a spotty binding. Pink was too sugary, black was too severe, but the green in my scrap bag seemed to work. When the binding was over stitched, I added and extra line of quilting just inside the binding.

 

 

Today the weather was on my side, I was able to get a couple of photos in the garden, with Kew, my tin blue tit. I know I have a hare and a blue tit and a wooden head in the garden, but trust me, my garden is tasteful!

And there we have it. A finish, Jim, but not as we know, or expected it.

Helen x
linking up with Busy Hands Quilts, and Finished Or Not Friday
linking up with Thank Goodness its Finished Friday