Stitching Weekend

Sewing room was abuzz with iron, needle, fabric and thread this weekend, as I tried to finish a long list of items to enter into the County Fair.  My first project was the Twilight Hopscotch block pillow, which was stalled at the usual stage, quilting. I told myself to "start by starting", and got the stitch-in-the-ditch portion done, added some straight lines to the corner squares, and then filled in with a very basic stipple in the background.  The star center seemed too empty, so added square in square shapes helped without bringing too much clutter to the simple star shape.  

An envelope backing and regular binding for the finish and this 16" pillow was ticked off the list.  I'm happy with it.   The cheddar fabric in the star has appeared in sooo many quilts, as I bought most of a bolt when the local JoAnn's store closed years ago.  Wish I had a bolt of that Marsha McCloskey background print, I love it. 

Modern Row Robin was next on the list.  It was already a quilt sandwich stalled at the quilting stage.  I doodled some ideas in my Bullet Journal and came up with a plan. 

The overlapping squares seemed just the right fit for my skills and patience, given the time crunch. Bravely, I just started marking squares and rectangles with my ruler and Hera tool.  The walking foot got quite a workout, as did my arms, turning this quilt so many times.  

There were a lot of threads to bury, and a hanging sleeve to sew on by hand, but I applied the binding entirely by machine. The top and bottom rows I made, from Heather Jones' Half Log Cabin class at QuiltCon. It is a very energetic quilt, with all the bright colors and contrast, but I like it.

Unfortunately I ran out of time and none of the quilts got a label, as I spent time adding a hanging sleeve to another quilt and closing binding corners.  All told, I have six quilted items entered--2 larger quilts, a baby quilt, two minis, and a pillow. The projects that didn't get finished will have to wait for next year's Fair, including the Metro Twist quilt, boo hoo.  C'est la vie! 

My sister was waiting for me at the Fairgrounds when I got there 1/2 hour from the entry deadline!  She entered some preserved goods as well as an Art Quilt.  The crocheted items seemed to outweigh the quilt piles, but I hope there are lots of great quilts to see when the Fair opens August 2nd.