So how long does it take to put borders on a quilt???

So just how long does it take to put the borders on a quilt?? Lets say a small inner border, cut 2.5" and then a larger border, about 8.5"?  By my calculations it takes 4 years, 10 months, 1 hour and 30 minutes...yeah that long.... I have no idea why I put this quilt top away when it was that close to being complete but I did...okay I may have some idea why...

Here is the top with its borders...

The pattern is Moda Love and its a freebie you can find here... the fabric collection is Fancy by Lily Ashbury for Moda.  I got the idea to make the blocks crazy pieced from a quilt done by Edyta Sitar which you can see here. It is a very bright and cheerful quilt...

A close up or two...

The background fabric is little snaps...click on the pictures to see it more clearly...it came from  a Gina Martin collection. I really like this combination of fabric and pattern and design variation and I will do it again...and you can't stop me....LOL.  

To make the crazy pieced blocks I stacked 6 or 7 10" squares and then randomly sliced them. Next I shuffled the cut pieces and sewed them back together. Then I squared the blocks up. I'm thinking of using this same technique with another collection or two of fabrics I have...maybe some Anna Marie Horner or Amy Butler or Debbie Mumm or Heather Ross... lots of possibilities out there. And hopefully it won't take as long to complete, but don't hold your breath...

Oh the reason I put this away... well it was October when it got to this point and to me this is a summer quilt so I wasn't going to use it for a while so I put it in a lovely plastic bin where it has languished for the past 4 years... I'd hang my head in shame but it would just give me a neck ache...so I won't...

And to further dazzle you with more completed quilting (I know your head is spinning... I haven't done a quilting post in eons)...I present my  American Jane Two Step quilt...bound washed and on my bed...

and from another angle which isn't easy as this room isn't that big...

I started this quilt last September for National Jelly Roll Day...the pattern is called Two Step, it is from the Missouri Star Quilt Company and you can see a tutorial on it here and read about my fabric choices here.  As I remember I started with a Spring-a-Ling jelly roll but added fabrics from other American Jane collections that I had in my rather large stash of her fabrics. I LOVE American Jane fabrics!!! I know all the center squares came from numerous charm packs I've collected over the years.

And a close up or two...

The last pic shows the quilting pattern nicely...the panto is called Flower Child (reminds me of Spirograph designs of my childhood)  and the quilting was done by Quilting by David...you can see his website here. This is the first time I've ever sent a quilt off  through the mail to be quilted. I was very happy with his work and how quickly he turned the job around.  I sent him the top and the back and purchased the batting from him. If you buy your batting from him (which saves you money in shipping to him) he pays for the return shipping.   I have sent the Moda Love quilt at the top of this post to him... can't wait to see what he does with it. He has a ton of patterns on his site but I let him pick the panto for me... check out his Instagram and you'll see what I mean... he told me he picks the pantos most of the time and he has a gift for pairing the right panto with the quilt design...check out his Instagram here...he posts all the time. Oh and he lets you pick the date you want the quilt done by... I gave him a date and he got it back sooner...he says he always tries to turn around a new customer's first quilt pronto...and he did.

So all this completion stuff has gotten me back into my sewing room and working on various projects. I have another...ok, a couple...well maybe several...um coming clean...A LOT of tops that don't need much work to be finished...and I'd like to get them sewn and off to be quilted. I'm working on those projects and I'm starting on the quilt I promised my son. I'm cutting the fabrics today and plan to hit the quilt store... Homegrown Homesewn  this week to get some Grunge for the sashing. Lots of plans... lots of plans...

My quilting mojo got lost around the time Judy's Design Wall Monday link ended and I was unaware till recently that there are several other quilting link ups that I could join ...and today I will... first there is Small Quilt and Doll Quilts (which took over Judy's link) ... and Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilts...and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than housework...and Moving it Forward at  Em's Scrapbag...   you can click on any of the underlined blogs to get to the linkups... I'm going to link this post up to a couple and see if that keeps me moving in the right direction. Just a little sewing every week would be a good thing.

happy stitching-
carol fun