Thank you.

Assistance by Jess.

I realized yesterday when I opened an envelope from Neenie that I have been extraordinarily lucky and blessed by the people who are around me, especially in regards to quilting. Ever since I started quilting I've received nothing but love and praise from family and friends, and at the very least tolerance from my non-arty relations. Everyone has been willing to help or put up with me, from letting me take over the dining room for sewing, to putting up with starch and holding up quilts for me, to being game for fabric show offs, and for even just reading the blog--it really means a lot to me that you all would be willing to do that whether it is for personal interest in the subject or to support me. So thank you. :)

This morning while Jess slept I got the last of the ironing for the rows done, and as soon as she was up I pulled out the sewing machine for some rapid fire assembly. I also learned very quickly that I really need to do the pinning on the floor, because otherwise it all gets buggered up. Oh well.

I also decided that in the future I will be trying to press my seams open if I'm using good fabric; unfortunately there are so many seams in some places I'm afraid this quilt is going to go before its time. Hopefully the quilting will help it out, but overall I'm pretty proud of it for my first try in triangles and complicated assembly.

It's not perfect by any means, but I think it is texturally interesting enough to work as a quilt. Something I didn't notice until Jess pointed it out--most of the stripey squares alternate, which is a pretty cool effect I wasn't thinking of when I assembled the rows. Ah well, I'll keep it in mind for next time. There's a lot of flaws, as always, but I think I may try to sell this one at a Farmer's Market they have on campus depending on how the quilting goes.

Next up are the big border pieces (more cutting, YAY! I get to use my new rulers!), and once those are assembled it will be time to assemble the border strips and sew them on. I am hoping to get some quilting done this weekend (I'm going to free-motion this bad boy... wish me luck!), but we will see.

Marisa