Getting started on the girls quilts

I have put Mineral Springs on hold. I was able to get everything on my design wall joined with the exception on that last section but it's really short. I can easily add another 8 rows (there is about 3 times the amount of batting space at the top as shown at bottom). Would I be happy  the size it is? No, so I ordered another jelly roll of Parrot from Hamels so it will be about 2 weeks until I receive the order.

What to do next... enjoyed the backyard looking through the magazine Chris brought home the latest Better Homes and Gardens Quilts for Every Occasion. I saw this pattern and thought wow R's fabric would be stunning like this, showed the girls and M said Do my quilt that way and R responded Flowers? Really Mom?  I pointed out the centers didn't have to be flowers could be stars, hearts... skulls.... whatever she wanted. Seeing she has finally started wearing pink in small doses again And while she'll never admit at the ripe old age of 17, Pink is her favorite color but has refused to wear it other than as a hair color after someone made a comment that was the only color she wore (this was in kindergarten). I thought maybe she'd want something a bit more feminine but it was a no go.

Pulling out other quilt magazines looking for she'd go for something, she focused in on this. She really liked this one out of Fons & Porter Quilting Quickly May/June 2015 issue

Final decisions?
M Petal Patchwork in Blackbird Fabrics - Plum Sweet
R Mini Donuts in Kansas Troubles - Token of Friendship.

Lessons learned this weekend:
One jelly roll isn't enough for Mineral Springs
Nothing is ever set in stone

Where I sit now, 3 Sisters - Favorites is free for whatever I want, back to the drawing board for Farmer's wife. Hmmm, maybe I should go with Farm girl vintage - After all, it's a womans perogative to change her mind ;) lol my girl's don't fall from the indecision tree.

Planting is done and one more day of the weekend. I love long weekends! Tomorrow is the day to get started on both quilts so there is no more mind changing.

binding blues and finally a finish

Cherry blossoms 

Nice weather has arrived and we've been taking advantage of each beautiful day and evening. I haven't been in the sewing room much. This past weekend Mothers day was the start of our monthly family barbeques at my parents. We all get together at least once each month from May through October. I really look forward to those afternoons. As you can see our cherry tree is thriving, we should be able to make lots of jam again this year.

Front of wall hanging 

I really expected to have published a post announcing a finish a few weeks ago... I did get my quilting done and started the binding on my wall hanging over 2 weeks ago. I finished attaching the binding on the one side, and went to turn it over and pin. That's when I noticed my 1/4 seam varied in areas. Could I have made it work - probably but I wasn't happy with it so started the ripping. Got all that re-attached and started on the other side only to have missed stitches and breaking threads. More ripping to clean up my mess. Chris has been working on my machine but every time we think he's got it I jump back on and I lose all tension on the top thread again.  It's starting to look like my machine hates me. Hand bound my wall hanging which didn't take as long as I expected it would.

backing looks yellow but is actually a nice green

I really wanted this wall hanging done so I could get moving on other projects like M & R's quilts. Before that happens, Mineral Springs is still on the wall and I need want this one in the finished pile before I start on theirs. I tried multiple centers on the blocks and we found plain old white made the blocks pop. I don't know if using a solid with batik is flaunting some unwritten (or written) rule but I like it and that's what counts. I still need to fill in the some holes. I'm going to use this quilt as practice for consistency on 1/4 inch seams.  If I can get this nailed down I'm hoping the girls quilts will turn out beautifully (or at least not so unplanned wonky).

I set up one of the old singers, so Chris has time and isn't feeling pressured to work on my machine. I forgot how these old machines sew like a dream. I'm about a third way through piecing, I'm going to continue using this one for this quilt.

I didn't take pictures of the table runner as I'm sure you are sick of seeing it. I did find an oops on one of the panels. I have 6 section when 2 are attached make one of three panels. I attached one hexie side lower when joining two sections so I'm going to have to change it a bit to connect the panels to make them line up. BUMMER!

Work has been nuts lately (more so than ever), but the Victoria day long weekend (which also happens to be our wedding anniversary weekend) is finally here. I'm looking forward to the much needed downtime.