Bowtie Madness

I spent a great deal of time yesterday machine quilting on the Bowties quilt for my brother's 50th birthday next week. 

For the 4 patches I just eyeballed across the 1" squares but used quarter inch masking tape as a guide for the bowties and larger open spaces. 

The patchwork borders also were completed, grid style.  The last thing I did last night was move the rest of the pins for finishing the channel quilting one direction. I had to move almost every single darn safety pin Mom and I placed in order to do the machine quilting!  Not having a plan when you pin is a *P.I.T.A.  Lesson learned.    The quilting lines are 2" apart so I won't need any pins once all the same-direction quilting is completed. Then I'll start the cross hatch the other direction.  Still have to come up with something for the spacer band but it will be something simple for sure!  *Pain in The Arse.

Finally, a shout out to my dad, who celebrated a birthday last week.  He doesn't usually like most photos of himself, but this one he did.  I like it too!  Taken in 2008 at Rosslyn Chapel on a once in a lifetime trip my folks took to Ireland and Scotland.  He even rented a car and braved driving the narrow lanes of Ireland.  Happy Birthday, Dad!