Bordered, backed, batted, flipped, tied, packed, and SHIPPED! Only a few days after the little guy's 6 month birthday. Not too bad, really. Here is a photo:
Since the cloud print was long gone, we have a stormy water border. This is the back fabric:
I LOVE IT! So beautiful. And nautical, too! I have a strip left over. I would love another yard, though. What would I do with it?
So there we have it - I finished something! Yay! \o/ That's not all I have finished, though! More later!
Hi blogworld! I am sorry I havn't updated in so long. I have been very busy with the science side of life. In a week, I will be become even more busy! So, just a warning, you will probably only see old projects for the next few months. If I can't do new, you don't get new.
So what have I been up to in the past couple of months?
Well, I discovered that the "B" flag was wrong. It actually has a dagged edge, not a white triangle. So it had to be reconstructed:
As I had feared, when I finally returned to the fabric store this cloud print was all gone. I haven't yet tried the others. Maybe I can sneak a trip in this week.
Another friend is having a boy. Darnit! It's like they know about my stockpile of girl blankies! I had a week to make something. I decided that I would copy something my mother made for my nephew - a Very Hungry Caterpillar applique. Now applique is not my friend. I've done it once. It involved using iron-on fusing web and the zig-zag stitch. This is what my mother did:
Looks easy! And fast! Oh no, not in my hands. So I got some perfectly matched batiks. I got a copy of the book. I enlarged the cover to a good size. Then I made plastic templates for the exact shapes... for all 20 green segments, the red head, the eyes, the nose, each foot, and the antennae. So then I cut out the fabric, and - omg - how am I going to zig-zag around those feet? I think about this while I iron over each piece's seam allowance. Mylar templates, by the way, are really neat! As I iron, I come to the sickening realization that I must hand baste the seams allowances. This takes a few days. I finally face the fact that I must hand applique the pieces if I want the shapes to be as close to the picture as possible. Positioning the caterpillar parts on the ground, which has since changed from white fleece to 12 squares of white-on-white prints, involves alot of scotch tape, some iron-on fusing web, and the window. I am currently hand-appliqueing. Here is what it's looking like:
Here is what I am working on right now:
Ignore the yellow, but comfy mattress underneath. That is the spare bed which I use to lay stuff out on. Anyway, this blankie is for a little boy. The signal flags spell out his name! This little boy lives in Santa Barbra, which I visited once. I remember the sky and the ocean were really blue and there were white sailboats. It was really sunny and bright. That is why I chose these design elements. The sailboat blocks I modified from the ones in the Encyclopedia of Classic Quilt Patterns. The signal flag blocks I had to work out for myself from pictures on Wikipedia. Right now I am working on the ships:
I am concerned that I did not buy enough cloud fabric and that I will go back and there won't be any more! But I will cross that bridge if and when I come to it.
Oh, and remind me never to buy the cheap broadcloth again! It changes size when it's ironed even though it's been washed and dried. Lame!
I just hope I finish this thing before the kid is 20!
