Timber Quilt Finish

Lots of folks are listing their finished quilts for the year--I came up with a minimum of 9 finished quilts for 2016, but in searching my blog to make the list, realized I never showed my finished version of the Timber Quilt.  It was completed in April and hand delivered to the recipients by the parents of the bride, soon afterwards.

Timber is a pattern by designer Alison Glass.  I started it as a wedding gift prior to the couple's wedding in October 2015, but obviously it didn't get done in time.  The pattern, though complex, was dead on with measurements and all of my sections came together easily.  I sneaked in two red geese to symbolize the "heart" of the quilt, something of a trademark for me.

I ended up making the lap sized version of the pattern.  I quilted it with a walking foot, copying the cover quilting which had mirror image spacing of the lines from the center. 

For the backing I found this brownish print.  My daughter asked me why I chose it--and I told her because it was another neutral color--

 

--and I liked the fool the eye perpendicular wavy stitching line :)

 It crinkled up nicely after its first bath. 

I think they liked it! 

Continuing Timber Tale

The Timber Quilt (Alison Glass pattern), now several months past due for a wedded couple, remains in pieces, but much bigger pieces!

There were four of the narrow angled strip sections, two of which were mirror image.  After constantly realigning the first group on my cutting mat, I finally got smart and used a visual aid. 

Ah, much easier!  The finished size of the section was the outer limit of the tape, so it was easier to see where the strips were to go.  The layout was complicated by this being a rectangle rather than a square.  There are a couple of squidgy areas I will have to be careful to enclose in the seam allowance so as not to leave a hole. 

Here are the completed four corner sections laid out with the center section.  Next, neutral colored sashing will be added along with outer borders in Silver Kona.  I'm making the quilt a little bigger than the pattern calls for, but not as big as the optional 15" border.  So some MATH will be required.  Therein lies the current stalling... It was my intention to get this quilt top together over my Christmas holiday, but sadly I did very little sewing.  Time to get back to it.

I pulled out my four patches and cut a bunch of corner triangles, as I thought I could use them as leader enders while sewing the Timber strips.  But that didn't work out because of the uneven length of the strips.  My sister stopped by while I was counting out how many hundred four patches I have (there are about 300 in this photo).  She almost had a stroke, as small squares affect her deeply :)  I have yet to decide how I will put these together once the triangles are all added.  Originally I was going to set them like the Go Four It quilt by Edyta Sitar for American Patchwork & Quilting, but I have seen some other layouts I like too.  A long term project can be a good thing.

Spooky Break

I'm taking a short break from the Timber Quilt, which has progressed to a lot of completed sections:

And just four additional blocks before assembly into a top. However, since my new deadline for this quilt is Christmas, I'm paying attention to a long neglected small project for Halloween. 

I designed this to use up some cherished charm pack scraps of a Minnick & Simpson Halloween line. Everything else came from stash and my own scraps. I've pin basted for black buttonhole stitching/quilting and may bring the backing to the front to finish. I'm happily home from work this morning as my doctor is out of town today and Monday. 

After being sick and then out of town, not to mention the dang heat, there has been little sewing happening. Time to remedy that!

Still Timbering

Lots of sewing and cutting and double checking parts and diagrams happening here. 

The center section completed, I moved on to multiple other sections. 

None of these are entirely complete but it looks like progress, doesn't it? Speaking of Timber, a couple of weeks ago my brother texted, asking if I were home, and then said he was coming over with his chainsaw. The prolonged drought had killed our ornamental pear tree and it needed to come down. 

Within about 15 minutes our view changed forever. 

Someone else likes the debris still in the yard:

Mini finds this a great scratching post!

I'm home sick today with a fast moving cold and if I can stay upright for long, will stitch and cut on Timber. I'm pretty tired of blowing my nose already!