Friday, June 13, 2014

TGIFF/Finish It Up Friday - Dr. Seuss Style


Happy Friday the 13th!!  I swear, besides Halloween, today is Hubby's favorite day!

Anywho, on to my big finish... I can't believe it's done!!  After a few "dry" days of not sewing, I thought I would fall behind on this one.  Totally not the case.  Once the "flimsy" was done and I got it all basted and quilted, I couldn't believe how quick it went.  Personally, I think the hand-binding took the longest out of all the steps on this quilt.


And believe me, that wasn't a painless process.  I really am thinking I need to invest in a couple of thimbles... or else I'm going to end up bleeding all over all my quilts!


Without further ado.... Drumroll please......



Words cannot express how excited I am about this finish!  This being my first "real" quit (read: non-rag quilt), it was a nerve-wracking process.  The layout drove me batty for an entire day trying to get it just right, the anxiety over how the heck I was going to baste it without a good place to do it, and then the about near heart attack I had while quilting it on my small, domestic machine.  All enough to land me in the looney bin.  But... I kept plugging along at it, taking it one step at a time.

I did learn a LOT from this quilt though.

  1. How to install my walking foot on my machine
  2. The importance of proper pressing in the alignment of seams
  3. The old saying "slow and steady finishes the race" - take my time and take things slow to prevent having to bust out the seam ripper constantly
  4. That I really need to make sure to trim off all the little fly-away strings on the "flimsy" before quilting it.  I can see fly-aways thru the white fabric squares :-(
  5. There are no "Quilt Police" that will arrest me if I didn't do things the "proper" way. Lol.
This quilt was made with no recipient in mind.... just to make and to have.  Really, REALLY hoping that there will be a "Baby Rockstar" in our future that will be able to enjoy it.  We'll have to wait and see on that one though.

Unfortunately, my excitement over starting my Jolly Jelly Roll quilt kinda took over this week and I didn't manage to get any knitting done on my pillow.  Hopefully there will be another knitted finish next week, but for now... it's back to the sewing machine for the weekend!

12 comments:

  1. Love your Dr. Suess Quilt... I have Grinch Christmas fabric all stashed for a quilt I want to make.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr Seuss quilt, turned out fabulous and ouch to the finger. You can by stick on thimbles - if you don't like using the full finger ones.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your quilt is great! Can't go wrong with Dr. Seuss.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You did great! And you are learning. I've discovered the best way to avoid those loose threads showing through is to avoid white altogether! Not always possible, I know ......

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like Fridays 13th as well :-) and today is full moon, what a combo! Congrats on great finish! It turned out lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on finishing your first "REAL" quilt. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations! The quilt is wonderful. Trust me, my thumb is like a pin cushion for my needle when I whip-stitch, too. Comes with the territory, I guess. I have club thumbs (aka huge thumbs) and I've never found a comfortable thimble... so I just use it as an excuse to take a break and stretch out my back. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats on finishing, and I think it turned out great. Not only is it a lovely Dr. Seuss, but it works as patriotic, too, and we have a great patriotic holiday coming up...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful quilt Jess. Congrats on the finish! Thanks for sharing. Marie (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful work! Love the color scheme -- great contrast!

    ReplyDelete