Plan A and B and C and D????

It has been a busy couple of days and I haven't really had a chance to respond to e-mails or get a lot of sewing done. And my TO DO list is getting longer and out of control!!!   I think my priority today though will be to call Roger's about the new modem/router which is NOT good. The service is much worse than what we had before so of course when the family wasn't happy before - they certainly are NOT in good humour about the situation. And I have to agree with them - the internet is S L O W.


So you remember this quilt from yesterday - just needed the machine stitching done on the applique shapes in the top right and bottom left corners.

Simple Country Sampler

I am happy to report that the bottom left corner is COMPLETE!!!!!

Stitching complete on this applique

But not before I had to deal with a bent needle

The backing is done. 

See why I like busy prints for quilt backs???   There are TWO horizontal seams along the right side of that backing.  You really don't see them. And once that vertical seam is pressed you will barely see that as well.

The only thing left is to finish that stitching on the applique in the top right and of course the binding. More on that in a moment.

At Monday this past week - I worked on this project.  This one started out as a table runner. It was a kit that I purchased from Barb. There was a LOT of excess fabric in the kit so I kept making blocks. Then Susan said she had the same kit, had made the table runner and had lots of fabric left over and she gave the scraps to me. I was able to make the area outlined in black on the quilt below.

Outlined section made from one table runner kit and leftovers from another

I still had a few small pieces left and the quilt wasn't quite as big as I wanted so I took the leftovers from the Simple Country Sampler and used them to make the rest of the blocks. As you can see - the two quilts are somewhat similar in colour.

Similar colour scheme

I got all the blocks pieced at Monday and most of them stitched together, but I was so fired up that I continued when I got home. But not without some difficulty. See - I sewed that piece on the wrong side of the quilt!!!!

Ooops...............

Then I sewed the second (brown) border on the quilt. Oh my - how organized I am - the border strips were already cut and joined together. I just had to measure the length of each border, cut it and sew it on.

Next up was the last border.  Hmmm - I should make them 4 1/2". OH NO - when I pulled out the fabric from the project box - the borders were already cut into strips. 6 1/2" wide.

Border strips already cut

 I had to cut TWO more 6 1/2" strips to get enough for the border.

Hmmm - I had better check how much binding I have. You see - I had already made the binding. When I measured it - I was short THIRTY inches.  Really?????     I NEVER do something stupid like this but obviously I did!!!!

There is a lesson to be learned here - NEVER cut the borders until you are ready to put them on. Make sure you have enough fabric for the binding and borders before you cut!!!!!

This is all the fabric I have left. I am good, but not that good that I can squeeze thirty inches of binding from this. 

We have a problem and let's see what we can do to fix it.

Plan A - shop Chez Elaine

Whipped out the purple fabrics and NOPE - nothing that comes close

Plan B - get the information from the selvedges and shop on-line

Buggy Barn Basics Pattern #7098   Colour?????

Hmmmm - that looks too purple for me

Again - too purple

Hmmm - this one is not purple, they call it plum. Hmmmm - is my fabric plum????

Plan C - call a couple of stores that I know that carry this fabric and see what they have. Store A  - no Buggy Barn left. Store B - yes they have that colourway, but in a different pattern than the stars.

See the fabric isn't really purple

Plan D - I have enough of the star fabric binding to bind the smaller quilt with the applique or I could make that binding (it will also be purple) with fabric left over from making the project. Then I could purchase the same colourway, different pattern to finish off this quilt.  Hmmmmmmmm - I am going to think about that today to see what I will end up doing.

The binding challenged quilt

 I love having options and I love trying to solve this kind of mess which is no one's fault but my own. Oh - there is a Plan E -  I suppose and that is to remember where I bought that purple fabric - I bought it recently (within last 6 months) and get more.  That is why I need to mull this over in my head for a day or two before I take action.

On that note - I am off to get stuff done today.


Have a great day!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!