Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

I am making a quilt for my sister's birthday. She won't get it by then, because I would have had to mail it today for that to happen and the binding is not even cut yet. This project has had it ups and downs -- as in some parts I have loved, and some parts not so great.

Thumbs up - I found this beautiful navy with small yellow and red floral print on deep discount. I was not looking for anything like it, but fell in love with it. It was an end of bolt remnant - 49 inches when trimmed. So, what was I doing to do with with it? Make a quilt using it for the sashing and some of the blocks.

Thumbs down - It took longer than I thought to design the pattern and cut it out.

BIG thumbs up - Except for the backing I bought on sale, all of the rest of my fabric came from my stash!

Thumbs down - My Singer quilter machine is great except when doing free-hand stipple stitch. I tried the so-called quilt stitch that is supposed to look like hand-quilting. It looked okay on the sample I tried but looked awful on the quilt.  It took me about three feet of stitching to decide -- no way, it's got to go. That is the WORST stitch in the world to pick out. It is a wonder I did not ruin the fabric. 

Thumbs up - The cycling pant leg rings I bought from Nancy's Notions to hold the quilt roll in place while I machine-stitched in the middle worked great.

Thumbs down - Some of the fabric kept stretching and puckering while I stitched. Some of my lattice work is not the greatest, especially since I used navy blue thread instead of medium blue that would have blended better.

Thumbs up more than down - Even though I stitched two-thirds of the lattices before I remembered this trick, once I used the spray sizing and hot iron to tighten the weave of the fabric and add some body, the rest of the lattice stitched up a lot better -- not one hundred percent, but better.