A Few Finishes and I am a Blockhead!

It's A Grand Old Flag is an official finish.

As I was putting on the binding, I noticed the machine quilter had missed one of the leaves.  Then I noticed she was not the only one...

I had not blanket stitched around 4 of the red stars!

I had a good laugh and will try to correct my error...some day.

Anna, over at The Woolie Mammoth, came up with a great motivational idea...Blockheads.

I don't know all the details, but I decided to use her idea to help me finish up some WIPs. 

If I understand the approach correctly, once a month I will work on just one block each from the projects I want to complete. So my projects are Le Jardin, my red and white quilt and the hexie quilt.

Here is my progress.

Block #7

I am doing them in a strange order, AND I made a mistake on this one too.  After I had the house appliqued down, I figured out I had cut the background the wrong size.  No way was I going to start over, so I cut the side strip a little wider.  Hopefully, I will not notice it too much.

Wish I had drafted this one as a full size quilt.  I will finish it off with a wide solid border of either the red or the white and applique some birds and berries on it.  Like Le Jardin, it is definitely a long term project.  Working in just two colors and repeating the same block over and over again is not my favorite type of piecing!

Unfortunately, I did not get a hexie block made today.  Ah, but the month is young!

It's a Grand Old Flag!

by 

Geoff's Mom. 

My progress this week.

So, I have a question for you all.

How do you care for your cotton and wool quilts?

This is the first quilt top I have worked on that has both wool and cotton applique.  I use the P3 method of applique prep, so my quilt top has starch and glue in it.  I usually soak it in a cold bath after I am done to dilute and disperse the glue and starch...I know it doesn't all come out.  I am hesitant to put this puppy in the bath.  I would appreciate any input I can get!  Do I have to worry about the over-dyed wool bleeding? How do I wash it?  These are questions students have asked and I don't have the answers. 

Another first for me...I used silk matka for the border.  The tobacco color was just too perfect.  It needled just fine, but the fraying at the edges was unreal.  Thank goodness I had added a 1/2" to the cutting directions for the border.  I always cut everything bigger and then custom cut it to size no matter if I am piecing or appliqueing.  Even so, every time a thread would come off, at least a 1/16th of inch of border was lost.  That is why I have fewer leaves in my border than the pattern called for.  I needed a yard of the silk matka.  I prewashed it and it shrunk quite a bit.  

If you like this pattern, Woolie Mammoth is having a giveaway here.  I know that as soon as I put that first flag on, I was in love.  You can bet this one will be ready to go to the quilter soon.

My girls are coming back to the cabin next week, so I don't know how much more progress I will make on my WIPs. However, I know I will be having a heck of a good time.  We head back to the desert at the end of August.  I am not looking forward to the heat, but I will enjoy reconnecting with my quilting community. Now back to sewing...I only have the weekend to get this flimsy finished!