Monday, August 09, 2010

quilt along week 10

Welcome to week 10 of the quilt along. This is the last step! I'll be honest with you...this quilt was a lot more challenging than I expected. (It was a bear!) If I hadn't been hosting the quilt along, who knows how long this one would have been laying around, unfinished. This baby made me question my quilting abilities more than once. And that was just today.
For this week, take the 4 pieced strips that are 32 segments long from last week's step, and lay them out along with the sashing strips that measure 64 1/2" as shown. (This is a shot of the top left hand side of the quilt.) Sew the strips on to the center part of the quilt. Repeat on the bottom of the quilt and you are done! Do a little happy dance and add your quilt to the flickr group.

Hurray for perseverance! I'm so glad that my quilt top is done! As if you couldn't tell. :)
I can't complete this post without admitting that I ended up adding a few inches of white to my sashing strips and just chopped off the remaining ends that I didn't need.
It was by far the best solution that I could think of given my problems with my pieced strips being too long. So my final quilt measures about 65" (or so) x 88 1/2". It will fit a twin bed nicely and that was the goal. I'm sure that after time heals the pain, I will really love this quilt. LOL!

To finish your quilt, you can check out my basting tutorial, one of my quilting tutorials and then my binding tutorial.

Since I'm feeling the need to branch out from my stippling rut, I'm planning to quilt mine with diagonal lines, much like Diane did on her 9 patch quilt. Isn't that gorgeous?

Another bit of exciting news...my husband and I are celebrating our 13th (!!!) wedding anniversary today. I'm in denial that I am old enough to have been married for that long. Marrying him was one of the best decisions of my life. He really is my best friend and I'm happy to be growing old with him. My sweet and thoughtful sister came down to visit and watch the kids so we can go out to dinner at our favorite resturant tonight. So a completed quilt top and a nice dinner out. A good day all around. :)

39 comments:

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Happy Anniversary to you and your sweetie and enjoy your dinner out! Your quilt turned out beautiful!

Sue H said...

Yum -- I love Mongolian barbecue. We've been to a place in Eagan, and there's a new place in Burnsville. Khan's looks a little more upscale and a lovely place to celebrate a wedding anniversary. Congratulations!

Linda said...

Congrats to you and Kev! That means that you and I met almost 13 years ago... Wow!

Tracey Jacobsen said...

Happy Anniversary! :)

I'm only working on year 4 of my happy marriage, but I'll bet I was a bit older than you when I started...

Have a great dinner.

The quilt top is gorgeous!

Red Pepper Quilts - Rita Hodge said...

Gorgeous quilt top; look forward to seeing it quilted.

Happy Anniversary!

Rita

Thimbleanna said...

Happy Anniversary to you newlyweds!!! ;-) Love the new quilt top -- it turned out great!

Mama Urchin said...

Happy Anniversary!

Amy @ The Nifty Foodie's Life said...

Oh holy cow that's an impressive quilt top!! GORGEOUS!!

Happy Anniversary too!

Jessica Christensen said...

Happy Anniversary, lovely! You deserve a nice dinner out.

Hopefully soon I'll be caught up. I'm getting close. =) I love yours.

Unknown said...

Your top is beautiful and I can't wait to see the quilting and what you'll come up with for the back.

I'm afraid that I won't be finishing any of mine on time...or any time soon for that matter. It seemed like a good idea during weeks 3 and 4 to do 3(!) quilts simultaneously. Not so much during weeks 5-10. What was I thinking??

Kim said...

Happy Anniversary!

Remember age is only a number its how you think that matters... and you sound so happy! I do love hearing about women who love their man.......it just keeps getting better too :0).

Happy Sewing and thanks for coming back to blogland I do enjoy your
creativity.

Amy B said...

Well, I have to admit that I started adding the extra to the sashing around week 6. I thought I was cheating. I am also glad that I am done with this one.

Congrats on your anniversary! We had our 13th in June :) Fun Fun Fun!

Kimberly Whispell said...

It looks beautiful. Congratulations on the quilt and 13 years!

beth said...

happy anniversary! and happy quilt top completion!! You did it!

Regina said...

Happy Anniversary! The quilt top looks great! I'm so glad you added to the sashing...and admitted to it ;)

I'm still at the same spot I was last week. :( We've been fighting a cough and sore throat in this house so I was sitting here thinking I might have to make longer strips in order to finish.

Someday said...

Gosh... that's a cool quilt! Doll size would be about my speed...

Doesn't quite fit... said...

Beautiful quilt; I'm planning on following your posts and quilting along after the fact. This year will be 14 years for me and, I too, can't believe I am that old (a 40th bday in 2 months doesn't help). Congrats and enjoy!

Carla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Luv 2 Kreate said...

Congrats...Happy Anniversary!

Terriaw said...

Happy anniversary to you and Kevin! What a grand day to celebrate! You always laugh and glow when you talk about him, so it's wonderful to hear.

So glad you stuck with this quilt, in spite of the "pain" because it's so gorgeous! Cool idea for the quilting too.

Cheryl Arkison said...

Happy Anniversary!

Anita said...

Happy Anniversary! A good day indeed!

anuradha said...

Happy Anniversary!Many many more years of HAPPINESS to you both!

Thanks for blogging again,I missed you when you were not there.

Katherine said...

Happy Anniversary! Hope you had a lovely time celebrating with your sweetheart. Congrats!

Is this lovely quilt named "Time will heal the pain?" ;o)
(Sorry, couldn't resist teasing you a bit. I chuckled when I read you saying you will love it when....). It's a beauty.

Anonymous said...

happy anniversary. I love how your quilt turned out. Hopefully I will be able to start your quilt along soon since we are back from vacation and most of our major remodel is finished. Pretty soon it will be October and my Husband will be out hunting with his bow for deer, then November starts firearm season and december goes back to bow hunting. I get 3 months to do what ever I want.

Jonathan said...

Happy Anniversary to you and your husband!! Mine is Saturday so we are very close ☺ It will be 11 years for us and I couldn't agree with your statement more. My hubby is my best friend and I am more in love with him today than the day I married him ☺
Your quilt is beautiful, bear or not. I'm still trying to catch up on mine.

I am Arizona; a person, not a place. said...

Happy Anniversary!

Your quilt is beautiful. I wanted to quilt along, but I knew I'd never keep up. I still haven't finished the star quilt from 2 years ago. lol! Oh my, or was it 3 years ago now??

{Leila}Where the Orchids Grow said...

Happy anniversary!
Your quilt top looks fabulous! I love the white and all those little squares.

pdudgeon said...

yep i also added to my white strips when they got to be longer than 40 inches, and it worked out wonderfully. My quilt ("Farmer's Market") is at the quilters ready to be picked up. pics when i get a new camera. thanks so much for this pattern, it was really fun to quilt along with everyone.

Coffeebean's Dailies said...

Happy Anniversary!!!

I also hope you had a great evening with your man!

The quilt is so beautiful! I enjoyed reading along. I did not participate as I was traveling in the USA!

For a name...how about...

"Smooth Road to A Happy Marriage???"

Hahaha!!

Melissa at Studio MCA Designs said...

Happy Anniversary!

Your quilt top is gorgeous!

I have to say that I finally bought a 1/4" foot half way through this project. I was having the same problem with the length of strips not matching the sashing. The new foot made a huge difference and the strips fit perfectly. I'm so glad I have it now. It's well worth the money.

Erin @ Why Not Sew? Quilts said...

I love your honesty about your piecing difficulties. The quilt is gorgeous. Happy anniversary!

Dawn W said...

It looks great! I really am planning to catch up soon ... :)
Hey - we are going on 13 years in December - time sure flies when your having fun. Hope you have a great day!

April (Polkadot Sparrow) said...

That quilt looks GREAT! Agh!
And yay for 13 years with an awesome dude. I LOVE Mongolian BBQ. Thanks for bringing it up. I am a pregnant mama given to food aversions, but I'd never get sick of Mongo!

peaknits said...

Happy Anniversary for sure!! We'll hit 16 years soon and nope, I don't feel old enough either:) I am loving the finished quilt - I will get there soon, and I love the diagnal quilting suggestion. I may add some sashing around to make it bigger - but wow - I had better catch up first!

Diane said...

Congrats on the aniversary... hope you enjoyed your night out.

Thanks so much for the quilt along and tutorials. I am still stuck at week six.... got derailed by a trip to Honduras and have yet to get back on track, but I love what I have done so far and am looking forward to making time to complete it once the kids are back to school.

Mary Lou said...

All done. Yay. Now to pick out the backing fabric...

Denice said...

i have to say i loved making this quilt and it didnt give me hardly any trouble at all. im not quite finished yet, but soon! i'm certainly no expert, thats for sure, but i will share what i did differently. my sashing strips i just cut in long 2 1/2 in strips - as long as the fabric. i sewed them on then cut them to fit the quilt - after they were sewn on. another handy thing i have is my presser foot. i use a bernina and they make a 1/4 in foot with a small guide bar right along the edge of the foot - to make a perfect quarter inch seam. maybe they make a foot for your machine? at least all the seams are the same and that takes the human error out of the equation. i had a very very small amount of easing to do and i am loving my - although unfinished - quilt top! thanks so much for letting us quilt along with you. it sure does make it fun to *need* to work on a project so i dont get behind the *group*. you are amazing and inspiring!

Deanna said...

I have finished my top. Thanks for the great quiltalong. I really enjoyed myself.

http://weddingdressblue.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/amandas-quilt-along-finished/