Progress

One ruler, Two ruler, Three ruler, Four.

Five ruler, Six ruler, Seven ruler, Ooops.

Making progress is always a good thing, I certainly made a lot of progress on my Giant Granny Panties quilt top which I posted about Here on Nov 1st. 
I had started cutting fabric for it on the Tuesday previous but I was unable to get it all done at once, so I figured that I would finish cutting at home. I had forgotten one of the golden rules that has been repeated to me time and again about cutting fabric, use the SAME ruler for all the cuts. 
So some of my strips were just slightly off, less than an eighth of an inch but some were... more off (I have really got to remember to close the cap on the glue jar), I am still not sure how I managed to cut a full inch off of the end of one of my strips (I am completely mystified by that one lol). Production had to come to a complete stand still until I figured out how to make a new 15" strip out of my scraps since I had bought almost exact yardage, which of course means very little room for error.
The solution was actually quite simple once I had thought it over. I had two largish chunks measuring approximately 11" long by 7.5" wide, I could have cut down two squares (7.5x7.5) and seamed them together to make a 15" square but I would have to remember to cut seam allowance and make sure I had the squares sitting correctly so I didn't sew a short side to a long side. Not feeling confident at this point I opted for a different method; I sewed the 11" strips together making a 22" piece, starched the seam and pressed it open really well to make it nice and flat (I love starch, why didn't I use it before?!) then I measured 7.5" from the seam line on either side for a perfect 15" strip and no worries about a seam allowance. Worked like a charm! Basically you sew your 15" strips together according to pattern and then cut them in half to make 2 identical strips, one for each side. When I cut my seamed strip in half it was dead center YAY!  I was quite tickled with figuring that out by myself and I am writing it here not only to share it with others but so I will recall what I did for when I do this to myself again :D!

The only thing left to do on the quilt top is the outer 3" border which will be the same color as the outer triangles kind of creamy white, the top is roughly 59" x 59" right now so I should have a finished top size of 64" x 64" (roughly), I am a bit stuck on this. 64 or 65 inches may not be quite big enough since my Mom is quite tall but if I make it much larger is it going to be easily transportable?  I do have enough of the border fabric left to go up to a 5" wide strip on all sides, would that make much of a difference do you think?

 The completed square is just what I was hoping for, a bit muted and genteel yet bright and cheerful, I am chomping at the bit to get quilting it!
I think I will use wool batting that way it will be nice and warm and snuggly, thankfully we now have a quilt shop in town and the ladies who run it are absolutely fantastic. I know I can ask any question or come running in with just a couple of swatches and walk out with exactly what I need. 
They are carrying so many types of batting, I don't think it ever occurred to me what it was like to have a selection to choose from, I can't wait to try out the beautiful bamboo batt they have stocked.
I just realized that I totally forgot about backing.... Good Grief! LOL


Passionately throwing my stash around looking for suitable backing material.... Til next time

Chris.