Working together

Nope, you are not seeing double.  (Well unless you see more than two quilt tops!)

I finished putting all the quilt blocks into rows and the rows into tops.  Yay!  It is such a good feeling to make measurable progress and I think it is one of the reasons why I like quilting so much.  All my little bits of work add up to a whole and it stays whole!

Next week I hope to have the borders on and be working on the backs.  I am telling you right now that I am doing the back a little backwards, I am going to make borders in a size that will not make this top wider than the fabric I have for the back.  It is 54 inches wide, these are lap or wall quilts so they can give up an inch or two and fit and we will all be happy.  Well, I will be happy.  Because I will be working with what I have and making it work, and as a result creating less work for myself.  Working smarter, not harder!

What other quilty things have been going on?  Not as much as I would have liked because I had my annual back to school cold (achoo!) and I am only teaching part time and college at that!  I guess some rituals never die!

One of those rituals is football in the fall.  We went to our first U of I game for the season.  It was warm and we won so it just didn't seem like U of I football but I know it is because the calendar tells me so!  Let's do the fall rituals.

We threw out the scraggly flowers on the front balcony and put fresh mums and pumpkins out there.  I put this quilt on the front door, it has just the right colors for early fall.  My friend, Marge, gave me a fabric bundle once of these terrific prints and stripes.  It was perfect for the early fall quilt, not the darker colors of Halloween or Thanksgiving.

 I am lucky to have so many good friends, like Marge, in my life.  Some of them, like Marge, have been in my life since college and others have brightened it up for the past couple of years. 
My friends are all different and in some ways like the fabulous backing fabric I already have for the heart quilts.  In order to use it in the best way, I have to make the borders fit that size.  In order to keep my friends in my life, I have to be able to see them, communicate with them and talk with them in the way that works for both of us.  You can't just make the quilt top any old size if you want to not have to piece the back and you can't just do whatever you want all the time and expect your friends to still fit in your life. 

Here's to quilt backs and fronts that work together and friends who do the same. 

Sew happy!