Finished and beribboned!

At the beginning of the month I was aiming to get my Orca Bay quilt completed that I had started back in 2012 the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.  A trip to my LQS yielded a quirky fabric for the binding and out of the excess backing I made a hanging sleeve.  Over a few evenings I did the necessary hand sewing, threw it in the washer and then hung it out to dry on my line - I'm trying to be a bit greener over the summer while I can dry laundry outside in the fresh air, and it smells so good!

I used plenty of pegs along the top so that it didn't get pulled out of shape

Much easier to see the quilting after going through the wash

That lovely Australian fabric in place as the binding

I do love the way the quilting becomes more visible after the crinkling in the wash, also there had still been a few little spots of blue washout marker in evidence after I had blotted them with a wet cotton wool ball - a prewash with no detergent followed by a gentle wash with just a little liquid detergent sorted them out.

At this point I had sent off my cheque to exhibit at the Grange Fair and anxiously waited to see if it got cashed - the proof that my entry had been accepted. It was duly cashed and on the Thursday I duly took my baby in and handed it over with some trepidation. By this point my husband had generously given me the mother and father of all colds and I had no energy to head over on the Friday evening or Saturday to see if my quilt placed, however various of my quilt guild friends did go to the fair and let me know that not just had I placed but had TWO ribbons!  I was well chuffed!

First place in class and Judges Choice too! Photo courtesy Becky S.

All the effort to add the hanging sleeve and it gets put up with binder clips 😂Photo courtesy Becky S.

Today, Saturday 27th, I was finally feeling up to a trip out to see it in person, and will be heading back to pick it up this evening. My One Monthly Goal for August was met and with great satisfaction too.

While stuck at home with the stinking cold I finished quilting the circles on Blueberry Hill and my generous husband drove me out to get the necessary binding fabric. Smokey is now helping me hand sew the binding down.

 

Ten years in the making

Here is my version of Bonnie Hunter's 2011 Mystery Quilt Orca Bay, which I started in 2012 and picked up from Sheila at Longarm Love just over a week ago.  I am really pleased with her quilting and she stay-stitched around the edge making my trimming job so much easier. 

Orca Bay, quilted

This weekend just gone I drove over to Stitch Your Art Out, my LQS, and bought the binding fabric. I didn't want plain black, but was looking for something with some pops of colour in it and this Australian fabric looked just right to me as there is enough blue and yellow to bring those colours out, but the other colours are not overwhelming.  It will interesting to see the final effect.

Binding fabric

The binding strips have been cut, joined and pressed, I have prepared a hanging sleeve from some of the surplus backing fabric (my own snow dyeing, with inadvertent speckles of dye - oops!) as I am pondering entering the finished quilt into our Grange Fair (county fair).  If I am going to do that it has to be finished by 17th August, so getting it all done is my One Monthly Goal for August 2022.

Snow dyed backing shows the quilting a little more clearly

 

Hanging sleeve and binding ready to sew on

Also under the needle this month will be my Blueberry Hill quilt (another pattern from Villa Rosa Designs, but enlarged a bit) as that is a gift I would like to be able to give sooner rather than later.  I love Villa Rosa's little postcard sized patterns.

Blueberry Hill has not progressed since the 24th of April

Other than that I hope to get some of my smaller flimsies quilted and maybe bound too as I still have one big project waiting patiently for my attention, there is knitting on the needles too, but that will get worked on when I have to travel for work, it is ideal for keeping me busy at airports, on aeroplanes and in hotel rooms.