No Rest for the Devoted

Although I try to take it easy and indulge in my other passion--reading--often enough that I don't burn out from the nonstop, frenetic quilting that seems to consume my life, I can only rest just long enough to get restless again. What I NEVER expected when I began Island Time Quilting was how productivity can be restful and restless at the same time. That's an interesting topic to explore more on later...

So, this week I finished three quilts to send to Quilts of Compassion, with several more tops ready to go...so another goes in the frame this afternoon. I've shared both "Summer Roses" and "Tupelo Strong" before...

Don't forget you can look at my previous post for the tutorial on the double pinwheel block in "Tupelo Strong."

This one is "Autumn Light," and was pieced by my friend Diane, who handed me NINE quilt tops of various sizes to send to QOC (and nicely modeled by another friend's feet!).

Since she was such a great foot model, I snuck in her quilt and finished it up before lunch yesterday. She found a technique in Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam & Nicky Lintott (ISBN 13: 978-07153-2863-7) that was the perfect complement to the green Hoffman Bali Pop she'd purchased, and we agreed that Fantasy Feathers would look beautiful on it.

I learned a few new things quilting this one. First, all those seams make for some difficult quilting occasionally. I also had my first really ruffly border; we are guessing all that bias allowed for much excess fabric in the border attaching process.

The good news is that I quilted it pretty flat, and the quilt managed to be pretty square when I was done. And, of course, most importantly, my friend was very pleased with the result. I think I'll work on a border-attaching tutorial, however. In the meantime...Google it! I'm sure there are dozens out there, complete with YouTube videos. 

Now, it's back to my frame, and all those quilts for QOC! It's not too late to finish one or two yourself! Contact information for Quilts of Compassion: email quiltsofcompassion@gmail.com or call Janice Grimes (founder) at 419-708-9343. Please feel free to post here if you need more information, and if you are willing to donate to the cause, they have a gofundme set up to receive online donations.

http://www.gofundme.com/9crj6o