It was a  l-o-n-g  day in the sewing room yesterday.  But progress was made – hip, hip, hooray!  Sadly, there is still much to be done.  And today is full with other activities too.  I may not get back to my sewing room until very late this afternoon.  Oh, my!  Remember when I said to not look for completed pics until 5:00 a.m. on Monday?  I wasn’t joking.  No really, I meant it.  And every time this happens to me I swear I’m going to be better next time.  Sigh.

I barely even ate yesterday I was so “head down” at the sewing machine.  I only had a meatloaf sandwich all day.  Then a late night snack at 11:00 p.m.  The meat loaf sandwich was really good though!  Dear hubby said it was the best meatloaf I’d ever made.  I never use a recipe and the meatloaf changes every time we have it.  This time though, I hurriedly wrote down what I’d used.  Since it was “the best meatloaf he’d ever had” and all.  I might want to repeat it.

So anyway – here’s my progress from the day.  Just because I know you were waiting for it.  Right?

Disclaimer:  My camera settings were way wrong yesterday!  And I didn’t discover it until too late.  I mean after all, they are pictures of progress.  So unless I wanted to start ripping out seams, retaking the pictures was not an option.  There are indeed limits to what I will do for you.  Ripping out seams for pictures is beyond the realm of this blog.  Don’t even ask. 

See?  Didn’t I warn you the pictures were going to be terrible?  My design wall is NOT pink!  It’s white… really, it is!   Sigh….. I shudder as I show you the rest.  But at least you can see that progress was made – this was early in the day as more seams were coming together.  And just in case you’re wondering about some of the weird fabric choices……..here, I’ll show you up close.

See how some fabrics look like they don’t belong?  There’s a big ta-dah finish at the end and it will all make sense.  So bear with me.

 And see the hole in the upper left corner?  Here’s the reason…..

There’s always one piece left under the sewing machine.  I like to chain piece all the time.  It saves thread.  And there’s a LOT of thread in this project!  It makes for good exercise too, as I try to keep all the pieces in their rightful places on the design wall.  Up Down Up Down – all day long.  (Kinda like the people on the bus – remember that song from childhood?  The people on the bus go up and down, up and down, up and down…..  If I knew how to surround this with musical notes, I’d do it for ya!  Now you’re gonna be singing that one for the rest of the day.  You can thank me later.)

Back to progress.

It’s coming together.  Bad pink wall!  Bad!  Bad!

And then…………. progress came to a screeching hault late in the evening (like 11:00) as I ran out of fabric for the borders!!!!!  Horrors!  I would have run up to the quilt shop to get some, but it was a little late.    Thread was looking a little bit in jeopardy too – and I needed a new needle for my machine.  But anyway here’s the completed center of the quilt……

Isn’t it pretty?  Actually I made a few fabric choices that I would change now if I could and it is much prettier in person (aren’t all quilts prettier in person than in pictures?)  But this is a class sample that is more about technique anyway – and I learned some things along the way that I will share with students in class.  I get to make the mistakes for them.  They appreciate that in me.  Then their quilts turn out perfect.  I’m so there for them.

And remember the ta-dah I told you about earlier?

TA-DAH!  This is the back side of the quilt!  So you get two for the price of one.  The possibilities are so good with this technique!  What about a nice Fall quilt on one side.  That reverses to all Christmas fabrics.  You can display it over the back of the couch – Fall side up.  Then as soon as the Thanksgiving meal is completed, you flip the quilt and instantly you’ve decorated for Christmas!  Or Valentine’s Day on one side.  With Easter on the other!  Or Easter flips to 4th of July.  How about pink on one side and blue on the other?  Then if that baby that they said was going to be a girl turns out to be a boy, you just flip the quilt over!  It’s two (clap) two (clap) two quilts in one!  (Like Doublemint gum – remember that one?)  The possibilities are endless!  And I have just proven that you can pretty much make this quilt in a weekend.  IF you don’t plan to eat or sleep.

I do plan to make more using this technique – even if it’s just placemats or table runners.  Flipping them to a whole new look would be quite fun, I think.  Shhhhh – don’t tell my family.  They just might be getting some of these for Christmas.  Of course that means I won’t start them until about December 20th.  Because I work so well under pressure and all.

And that other project?  Still looks exactly the same.  So you better go review the pic from yesterday so you can get it firmly planted in your mind.  Then you will be wowed with the finish at about 5:00 a.m. on Monday.

Sleepily,
Barb