one down, two to go

Wooohoo! The hand finishing is done on one of the three large bed quilts that I have to bind. Betsy came by the quilt meeting with entry forms for the Gadsden quilt show scheduled for Sept. 24-25. I said that I would have two entries but would have to get those fingers flying to get them done in time. Lois, bless her, offered to help if I need her to. Now that is a friend! Counting the sleeve stitching I tallied up 400 inches of hand stitching. By the time I am done with all 3 quilts my fingers and wrists will be calling "uncle!"

Fortunately, the raffle quilt Judy asked me to bind is not needed till the end of the month. I had done most of the top edge of it at the meeting but realized that I needed to set it aside to concentrate on the two for the show. DJ is shaking his head and wondering how I get into these deadline projects---"you are treating it like a job" and "isn't this your hobby?" Sometimes a deadline is what it takes to make me finish this part of the process. A couple years back, it was binding on my Cheese and Crackers, shown in this post (along with the scrappy bargello that I also entered at that time.)

Did you see who had to pose on the quilt as soon as I laid out on my bed? Skyler had been hiding UNDER the quilt while I finished the last 36 inches or so and sure wanted to stay on there. Judging from his attack behavior, I know he thought it was time for a round of "where's the kitty?"

Here is how much he was helping me when I was attempting to fold the quilt. Plop, right back in the middle of the quilt. By that time he was getting a little more feisty about my making him move. You can also see the leftover block which I made with Allison's initials. I pieced it the middle of the quilt backing where it will serve as the label once I mark the information on it.

I DO have some quilt pictures to share with you from the meeting but that will wait a few days.
Meanwhile I will happy dance a bit that I have one finish, anyway!

Tomorrow, the strip twist, 88x 95 on that one.