Easing in the border for the Bloomin' Rose

It's just my luck the blocks for the border sewn together almost fit. But, I'll still need to adjust and ease in the border. As you can see the border for this quilt is just a bit large. So, I'll need to go back over some seams and take a larger seam-instead of the usual 1/4 inch, in order to make this border fit, I'm going back over a couple of blocks and take about 1/2 to 5/8 inch seam then it'll ease in and fit!

Bloomin' Rose Border

Decisions, decisions, decisions, this a quilter's life. I don't care if it' s a traditional quilt or a contemporary quilt, it's all the same, choices must be made and balance is a key element. For this quilt I've chosen an hourglass border. Since this is a scrap quilt, balancing the color is an important element. Here I've laid out the blocks and am trying to balance the pink, green, beige, etc., that surround the quilt. Besides the balance of color, sewing will be done, in order to make the border fit the quilt. Sometimes you have to ease something in to a quilt, a lot of the time this is necessary for a pieced border. Just like in basic sewing, which is where I know a lot of quilter's begin their obsession with fabric, seams and zippers, etc., must be eased into the project. Easing a border is simply increasing or decreasing a seam in order for the project to fit. I'll demonstrate on a later blog. Happy Quilting!

Auditioning fabric/borders for The Bloomin' Rose

Watching a quilt come together is a wonderful thing. Just knowing it's almost done is uplifting to me. Putting on the binding is my favorite part, because that means it's practically on my lap in time for morning coffee comfort. Or, the quilt could be on my bed, where a quilt is always beautiful. And, dare I say it-it could be on the wall...smile.

The auditioning of fabric-no this is not a play about fabric or quilters-has led me to choose from my stash, this stripe. Auditioning fabrics means holding fabric up to other fabrics for your perusal-a visual of the quilt in your minds eye, before you do all the work. Of course you can always cheat and buy a kit of the material already selected, but where's the fun in that? I say that, even though I've been known to do buy a kit. That being said, selecting/auditioning fabrics is something I really enjoy. Back to this quilt, one of my favorite inner borders is a stripe and here it is again. This is our signature quilt for our group, Northeast Quilting Friends. We will have a party at the end of June and all the tops are due for display at that time. I don't know if I'll get it quilted by then, but, right now all I need is another border and it's done! You can audition quilt block designs. I thought I'd make pinwheels for this border, but, when I auditioned this hourglass type of block, I like the way it mimics the pieced roses and the quilt spoke to me and said that's it! Decision made, that was that!

As of late, life has gotten in the way of my quilting and that's okay, but, I do have some catchin' up to do. Whoopee! I think I'll look for a lovely backing at Lavender's next week and I'll be using the silk batting, I've been dying to use.

Lavender's quilt shop and more...

Once again our quilt group, Northeast Quilting Friends, is traveling to interesting places for the enrichment of our hobby. That enrichment includes, this time, a 300 mile round trip. While we are not usually a long distance traveling group, we do, once a year, make this annual trek and have done so for the last 3 years. So if you or your group are looking for a wonderful time to share together, here is our prescription for what ales some quilters-that being not enough laughter and not enough fabric...er, I think I'm not lacking either of those, but, never can get enough of a good thing!

Itinerary for a quilting good time:

9:00 Leave Northeast Christian Church parking lot

10:30 to 11:00 Arrive: Wilderness Road Quilt Company This is a first class quilt shop with a Bernina dealership. They have the latest and greatest of new fabric and notions, as well as yarn.

12:00 Leave: Wilderness Road for Bread of Life restaurant

12:30 to 1:00 Arrive: Bread of Life restaurant. This is a regular country food restaurant to benefits the local community with a buffet and menu and oh yes, shopping.

2:00 Leave: Bread of Life for Lavender's quilt shop

2:30 Arrive: Lavender's quilt shop-this is a cash/checks only establishment-keep those credit cards in your purse. This year every yard of fabric in the shop is $2.75, during the month of June.

3:30 Leave: Lavender's for Quilt King Products

4:00 Arrive: Quilt King Products This store is an interesting mix of farm clothing/accessories and very inexpensive fabric and batting as well as notions, very unique and fun.

5:00 Leave: Quilt King Products for Louisville

6:30 Arrive: at church (home)

Battle at Kruger

Watch it till the end. We always watch out for our babies!

Funny Commercial: Wife Goes Shopping

Besides making impulsive fabric buys, there can be other surprises on the credit card bill...