Perfection is over-rated, Baskets and Nine Patches and the next quilt

I don’t sweat “perfection”. I just do the best that I can. If there’s a mistake or something not quite right AND it bothers me I fix it. If I can live with it…..I live with it! For example in the Baskets and Nine Patches quilt there were some spots where the nine patches didn’t quite line up. Some I fixed and others I’ll just live with. Here’s one I decided to live with (the two patches don't line up on the bottom row just above the pin).

Baskets and Nine Patches is now finished and although it's not perfect I don’t care - I love it! There’s so much going on that the little imperfections are not really noticeable and if they are, my next line of defence is “they add charm”! When I look at the quilt I see the whole, not the individual bits! And here it is!

 

 

Would you like a pattern for this quilt? If there's enough interest I'll prepare and post a pattern. It is a quilt for using small scraps. It would even be fun to get a group of friends together for a nine patch block swap!

TIP! One of the things I do is prepare the binding when I’m adding the border to a quilt; I'm already cutting and sewing so might as make the binding too! Once the strips of binding are sewn together and pressed I wrap them around a piece of cardboard and pin the loose end. I keep this with the quilt top until it is ready to be quilted. If the quilt doesn't get quilted for months (or years) I don't have to scramble looking for fabric to bind the quilt once I'm ready to quilt it.  This is the binding I prepared for Baskets and Nine Patches and the next quilt (Alex's quilt) that is now pinned and going under the machine as we speak.

I have a friend with two children, a boy and a girl. This little family has gone through some really difficult, life-changing events over the past few years so I decided that I wanted to make a quilt for each of the kids. Christina’s quilt is almost quilted and today I got started on Alex’s quilt. I didn’t want juvenile quilts – I wanted quilts that the kids could use and enjoy for many years to come.

 

Christina's quilt being pinned

Christina's quilt, close-up

 

Alex's quilt

 

Alex's quilt pinned for quilting

The quilting is underway

Alex likes guitars so this is the backing fabric

 

I leave you with a close-up shot of Flora and Fauna, Parts of the Garden. It is entered in Quilting Gallery's Show and Tell. PIctures of the entries will be posted tomorrow and voting runs from Friday to Monday at 6:00pm EDT! I think the little grasshoppers are my favourite critters in the quilt and I love the mushrooms!

 

 

Until I post again, happy sewing!