Yesterday was the last day of my kids' fall break. We hadn't done anything too exciting over the four-day weekend, other than attend a talk/solo cello concert in a cemetery about bugs that are decomposers. So we decided to do a quick road trip to Casey, Illinois, home to many of the world's largest items and other big items.
Since I had a lot of car time, I took along the NASA quilt that needed to be bound. My family patiently waited an extra 10 minutes in the car when we arrived so that I could sew down the last of the binding because I thought it would be fun to get a picture of the finished quilt with something that is the world's largest.
So, without further ado, here is the NASA quilt in the "World's Largest Mailbox." In case you're wondering, you can actually place stamped mail in the largest mailbox to be mailed. :)
The NASA quilt measures 55" x 61.25". It is essentially double-sided since I used panels on the front and the back. All fabrics are from Riley Blake. I quilted it using the Sweep pantograph. This one is for my son, who currently wishes to become an aerospace engineer. This is #14 on my 2019 Finish-A-Long list.
I got a souvenir while we were in Casey. I found this crimper/pleater in an antiques store there. I have always been fascinated with the one that's at a museum near us, and now I have my own.
Finally, if you've been following my smelly and stained antique block saga, they have been soaking in a vinegar and water solution for a week and a half now, mostly because I've been lazy and haven't taken care of them. They seem to no longer smell, though some still have black spots all over the feed sack backing. I'm going to hang them to drip dry in the tub and go from there.
I thought I'd try something a bit different to help me finish some of my WIP. I seem to be much more productive when I have firm deadlines. So I looked through my pile of works-in-progress and made a list of some I'd like to try to finish in the next few months and I'm linking up with the 2019 Finish-A-Long Q4 to try to get more done.
Here is my list of proposed finishes for Q4.
1. Pink Grapefruit quilt
I am taking a class with Coleen Merte in November. Everything for the quilt needs to be pre-cut before the class, so surely I can finish a quilt top in a short amount of time, right? It will just be the quilting and binding that will take some time. But definitely doable.
2. FQS mystery BOM
It just needs the binding stitched down.
3. Kimberly Einmo class quilt
I want to do custom quilting on this one. I just haven't worked out what exactly yet. The goal is to quilt and bind it.
4. Polar Bear quilt
I was planning on quilting this last week until I noticed that it is super wavy and crooked. So it needs to be ripped apart and re-sewn. Then quilting and binding.
5. Lucky charm quilt
Another that I want to custom quilt but can't decided on a design.
6. Cross quilt
This one needs to be quilted and bound. I'm not in love with the backing fabric I bought, but can't find anything to coordinate with the top. I do have a quilting plan already, so that's a plus.
7. Strawberry quilt
This one is for my daughter and she wants custom quilting, so I've been dragging my feet for a very long time.
8. Summer book club blocks
I started making some blocks this summer but got busy doing other things. I need to make a ton of blocks and then figure out from there what to do. It's unlikely this one will get done this quarter, but a girl can dream, right?
9. Churn dash mini
This one needs borders of some sort and then quilting and binding.
10. Range kit
Cut, sew, quilt, bind. I can't wait to make this, but I've been holding back because I feel like I need to get more things finished first.
11. Antique blocks
If you've followed my blog recently, you have read about these several times. I think they are now sufficiently cleaned and the smell has gone away, so I will need to tear some apart and re-sew the center seam, then create a quilt top with them. If I am going to do this one, it will need to be done before February, so it seems like a great one to add to the list.
12. Purple flower quilt
Quilt and bind.
13. Crabby mini
Fabric has been pulled and pattern prepared forever. I just need to do it. I find so much of paper-piecing to be so intimidating. Not the sewing itself, but the figuring out the right way to put the fabric and then removing all the paper at the end.
14. NASA quilt
The binding needs to be sewn down.
15. American Jane Cupcake Mix 3
There is no way this will get done since one of the fabric lines I want to include doesn't come out until February. I am listing it here because I am currently working on it and am intending to continue working on it throughout quarter 4.
Clearly I have a lot of quilting to do. You can see I'm great at making tops, but not so quick at turning them into quilts. Let's get quilting!
