Working on Finishing the Quilt!

Yesterday, I bought fabric. UGH - Quilter's Juction had a 20% off sale on all fabric. So, I just had to go and see what they had. I was looking for fabrics that would work for the eagle I want  do. This is what I came up with.

Of course, the grey fabric was the end of the bolt and I decided it would work great for the bald eagles head.

I went downstairs this morning to start the quilt, and figured I better put the fabric on the boards. Of course I cleaned everything up so well, that it took me 10 mins to figure out where I put the extra boards!

Once I did, I was happy! You should have seen me looking! I checked out my cabinets, I went upstairs to see if I put it in my draw up here, and I checked the family room downstairs. Then I remember where I put it and pulled them out! What a pain it can be when I clean!!

Today I decided to work on the quilt for my mother-in-law. This is a 20 year project that is now on it's last legs. I'm excited about it - but not really thrilled to be sewing these together. Don't me wrong, I like doing quilts, I hate sewing on the machine. So, I had to be in a good mood to work on the machine, and I had to "enjoy" doing it.

First things first - iron. I ironed all the blocks so that it would be easier to cut the blocks into 12 1/2" unfinished.

Checked out my sheet of instructions (or the measurements of the quilt) and started cutting my black fabric. 

This is for the sashing. 

Next i put the blocks and pieces on the quilt frame behind the sewing machine so I could work with it a little easier. 

I started to sew them together like this, but decided I didn't want to do it that way. I didn't want to have a long strip of black and center squares to deal with as I did the rows. So, I decided to do it a little differently, to make it more accurate. 

I worked with blocks this way, and it worked better. 

After a couple hours of cutting and sewing - more like three hours - I decided my back needed a break. 

This gives you an idea of what the quilt will look like. I will then add three borders to it. It will probably take me a couple days to get this done, but I don't want to rush it. AND if anyone says you can do this quilt in a day - they are crazy! I have yet to do a quilt in a day - let alone two. I can do one in a day, IF I prepped and had all the pieces cut, and ready to go. Even then it would be every hard to do - giving me 8 hrs! Now if you want a 24 hr period of time, then MAYBE but I highly doubt it if you really want to do a good job on what your working on. 

Now I need to get back to my applique blocks and will probably start working on the basket that goes with the guilt wall. Life is good, Life is fun, and Life is Happy Quilting!