Another Completed Project

I finally finished the last of the handstitching on the binding on a quilt I made originally as a way to try the Tube Quilt (a great Youtube tutorial by Missouri Star Quilt Co - see it here). It really was extremely easy to make and I will definitely make another one. If you need a top finished in an afternoon this is the one for you!

I decided to give the finished quilt to my friend's Mum Zelma, who was diagnosed with lung cancer about the same time.  She is currently having chemo and doing okay but I was still keen to get this one finished. (I apologise for the quality of the photo, it was not a good day for photograph today! Managed to snap these shots just before it rained again!)

     
I'm not really all that keen on the apricot but at the time I restricted myself to any fabrics I could find at the Spotlight clearance sale that went together. I do like the pink and coffee coloured patterned one though. Initially  I put it together with just the blocks but when I came to look at quilting it I decided it needed to be a little larger. I didn't have any pink heart fabric left (as I had made a pieced backing for it already) so I combined what I had left of the other two.  Then of course I had to make the backing larger!

I hadn't thought about what I would put around it as binding but luckily I managed to get more of the pink and coffee patterned fabric down the track so I bought more and bound it with that.

I used it as an opportunity to try some different quilting patterns as I don't usually make quilts with repeating blocks. I found a nice floral motif and using tearaway stabliser I free motioned around those, mostly on the lines! Then I filled the other blocks with a combination of hearts and loops.

 

I think the best way to improve my free motion at present would be to improve my sewing table. I need to get my sewing machine into a flat bed position but if I do that I can't get my legs under my sewing table! Sometimes being tall is a hassle!  I did tell the people at the Horn cabinet display at the Quilt Show a couple of years ago and they tried to tell me I was using the wrong stool. I soon gave them a demo on their stool and showed them it was the length of my legs, not the height of the stool that gave me the problem! (I might point out here I'm not ridiculously tall - only 5'10".)  When I spoke to the lady presiding over the Horn booth this year about something else she told me she understood they were coming out with a height adjustable one soon so perhaps someone was actually listening!  I would prop mine up on something but I need to be able to open and close it as I sew in the hallway and have to close it all up at the end of the day!

I'm thinking some sort of temporary insert might do the trick. I've seen some great things done with polystyrene sheeting and a plastic tablecloth so I might give it a whirl!  Has anyone else tried making one of these?

Oh, lastly a quick shot of the label:

Well, now to give the quilt to my friend to give to her Mum. Hope she likes it!