I Did It Myself - Just don't look too close!

Project complete! Just don't look too close, please. But at least I can say I did the whole quilt all by myself. I took it outside and laid in in the grass to try to get a decent photo. I got a few odd looks from a couple of neighbors driving by, but maybe they thought I was just getting ready for a picnic! I'm lucky it didn't blow away on this very windy day - reminding me of one of the things we enjoyed (not!) back in Kansas!

I wasn't sure how to quilt this so just went with a stitch in the ditch with invisible thread on top and brown in the bobbin to match the back. But then I went out on a limb and tried a little bit of free motion quilting on the center blocks. I practiced and practiced, trying to come up with a nice stipple design as shown in my quilting books. Totally frustrated with that, I gave up and decided to do my own thing and just went with a few swirly hearts and some other swirl designs.
For binding, I sewed some of the remaining jelly roll strips together. I like the patchy look these make. The problem with the shortage of backing is irrelevant now, but even though the diagonal seam worked out fine, I will try to make sure that I have enough yardage on the next quilt so it won't have to be pieced.
No Pilates again today for me. I guess I was a little too enthusiastic (now that's a word not usually associated with Pilates!) at class the other day and strained a muscle in my neck or upper back. It feels better now, but don't want to take a chance on re-injury before our upcoming motorcycle trip. I'm sure some of you will think we are crazy (again!) so I won't give too many details - yet! But we will be watching the weather for the next couple of weeks very closely. Stay tuned!

I'm still thinking about that dogwood tree. I stopped at Walnut Ridge Nursery today to see what they have since they are on sale this week. Their selection of pink dogwoods has been pretty well picked over so I'm not sure yet. They do have a really nice water feature display there. Wouldn't it be nice to have this koi pond and waterfall in your backyard?

Here's one of the next projects on the list. I picked up the B.O.M. quilt from the quilter the other day. Come to find out, she has the HQ 16 that I've been dreaming about for a few months. I'm not sure if I'm ready to advance to that level, but maybe some day! Beamer doesn't seem to care if the binding is on it yet. He thinks it makes a pretty nice bed - too bad he soon got shooed away before too much cat fur accumulated!
Sleep tight!