Shoo-Fly Quilt (A Fall Quilt) - Completed

I finished the Shoo-Fly quilt late Sunday afternoon while watching our Packers beat the Giants in the playoff game. Sewing the binding on this quilt was a nice distraction when things weren't going well for our team which wasn't very often since they played well and won by a comfortable margin.

Considering I started this quilt in September and worked through some issues with picking out lots of quilting as I realized I hated the original backing I chose, I don't think this took all that long. I did set it down during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays while I contemplated what I would do about the ugly backing I originally chose so the time actually spent on the quilt wasn't all that bad.

Using the leftover layer cake squares from the chosen fabrics with some yardage I got on sale made a great deal of difference in how the back turned out. Lesson learned: if it's an iffy choice - stop and rethink it.

Yesterday was an overcast day so it was perfect for taking photos of the quilt. Although it was a little windy, I did not have to hold it down. The only awkwardness came from its bulk; the quilt measures 84" x 104".

I am very happy with the end results and I just might enter this one in a quilt show.

Milwaukee Modern Quilt Club Project

I belong to a modern quilt club that meets monthly at our local quilt shop. This winter we decided to create a modern quilt as a group and enter it into the Wisconsin State Fair and possibly the Modern Quilt Show. We decided to use Milwaukee landmarks as our theme and each member of the group chose a local landmark as their quilt block. We used the Modern Quilt Show color palette from a few years ago as our guide in making our blocks.

Over the past month we got together with our blocks, decided on a layout and stitched the blocks together. We all agree that the project is coming along very nicely. We only have a little time left to get the quilt top quilted and bound (July 29th) but we are confident that we will finish in time.

State Fair Entry

I entered this quilt in the Wisconsin State Fair. It qualifies under the memory quilt division. It is to commemorate my husband and his time in the Navy. Even though the fair is in August, the entry deadline in May so I have to think about this way in advance, in fact, I got the entry form in February.

I printed some of his Navy photos onto fabric and incorporated them into the quilt. Then, I embellished the photos with some trim that looks like the rope that is used to tie ships to docks and I found some with stars and anchors embroidered on them. I used Navy print fabric and the blues either had stars or a wavy pattern to resemble water and the beiges reminded me of sand.

Funny thing is when I did the blocks individually, they looked great but for some reason when I put them together...well, there really was no way to put them together where they looked like they had some asymmetry. It's mish-mosh bunch of stuff that didn't turn out so well together. Luckily, when Jeff is under it in is favorite chair, it's not straightened out enough to notice how bad it really looks. At least he likes the memories that the photos bring. I doubt if I will win anything with it but I've seen worse at the fair. At least it was a good learning experience.