At five-thirty this morning, I dragged myself out of bed so I could get the birthday quilt assembled and pin basted before the kids woke up and I lost my floor space. Early morning basting is always a gamble and I had to chase them back into their rooms until I was done, but I got it layered without any major pleats (at least none that I've noticed so far) and now I'm about halfway through the quilting.



I'm doing the free motion spirals again, which seems like more physical effort than meandering, especially since this is a bigger quilt (70" x 70") than I'm used to tackling on the Janome. I thought about waiting for the longarm, but I'm not that patient and I get better results from the Janome.

Pacing myself and spreading the quilting over more than one day would be the sane thing to do, but I'm not that reasonable, so I quilt until my bobbin runs out, do something around the house, quilt another bobbins worth, look at pretty quilty blogs, quilt another bobbins worth, cuddle with the kids for a bit...

I'm finding all sorts of things to be inspired by --

Don't know what I'd do with a French Dresses Paper Garland, but it would be so much fun to make I'm not sure I need a purpose for it.

This post about plastic bag transfers has me wanting to call everyone I know to ask if they've got neat bags they can save me, because I didn't know I was supposed to save them. But I'd have to explain what I was going to do with them and my friends don't all understand this sort of thing.

I want a little quilt with a ruffle and jumbo ric rack. Mostly I want the ruffle. Or prairie points. Or a crocheted border. I still don't know how to crochet, but those pictures sure make me want to learn! And there's a tutorial that explains how to do it... or I could knit an edging. I know how to do it, and I've got books full of edging patterns.

And between all of the breaks to follow rabbit trails, and play with the kids, and work on the house -- it's quilted!



I'm in rather desperate need of a nap, but I think I can keep myself moving for a couple more hours. Tomorrow, I'll get it trimmed and buy some fabric for binding.

I need to buy more pins

It took just about every pin I own (the ones that aren't already holding other things together) to get this thing pinned into rows. Since the tin that usually holds my pins and presser feet, not to mention all sorts of other junk that doesn't belong there, was so close to empty, I cleaned out the rest of the threads and lint and it's ready to fill back up as I sew the rows together. No more pins without plastic ends or plastic ends without pins.

I finished the last of the blocks after lunch and if I was a little giddy before, now that it's ready to assemble into a top, I'm absolutely ecstatic. I love this birthday present to myself and I'm thinking that I should do this every year -- pick out a pattern that I want to do that feels a little beyond my comfort zone.

Not that I could tell you what made this one a challenge -- one I got the blocks drafted it went together easily.

I am absolutely loving this quilt -- that's all there is to it!



Most of the pieces are cut and I have the fabric laid out for the rest of them, just as soon as I figure out how many I actually need. I had myself all talked into buying yardage for a backing, then I realized that one of the sheets I've been hoarding for the perfect quilt might be absolutely perfect.

And, best of all, it looks like I'll have time over the next few days to actually make it!

I'm celebrating!

It's my birthday and my husband was scheduled to work a long overtime shift, so I'm enjoying myself by spending the day on a quilt that's just for me.

That Double Irish Chain with the sawtooth stars makes my heart go pitty-pat. I want one! Without the borders, which don't do a thing for me.



The original quilt, according to the library book, was made by Harriet Sophia Fyler Spicer in 1854. As soon as I saw it, I decided that I wanted one in blue and white. There's no pattern, so it took me a couple of days to figure out how to make the stars fit inside the chain, but I think I've finally got the math right and I've pulled enough dark blue fabrics from my stash.

I've done a Double Irish Chain before, and I've got most of my stars pieced, so I should be able to pull this off.