Help Wanted

Hi, everyone!  I'd love some feedback on this, please!  I've got my Hunter's Star blocks all sewn into rows ...

... then sewed the rows together.  Lots of points to try to avoid cutting off, but I got through it with most of the points intact.  More or less.

Once together, I started auditioning fabrics for the borders. Inner first. I thought this would be perfect:

I didn't have any more of the hideous green that's in the body of the quilt (on the left), but this one comes mighty close.  I don't have a lot of border options due to how much fabric it calls for; this is a very large quilt!  My thoughts (which I now question) were something along the lines of - that green is so ugly I should use one just like it for the inner border!  Seemed like a good idea at the time - and it's very true to the period.  (Civil War Era.)

Here I am, happily sewing it in ...

Everything was just fine until I neared the end.  I was lightly holding onto the border strip underneath and noticed it was getting shorter than the top ...

"Son of a ..."

I may have uttered an HBO word.  Or two.  Or more.  What's that saying?  "Measure once, cuss twice"?  Yeah.  Then I thought, well, heck, the border had to be pieced anyway, due to how long it is, so just grab another 2 1/2" chunk of it and sew it on.  Yeah.  Great idea.

Wouldn't it have been an even better if I'd grabbed the same green?!?  I didn't even realize what I'd done until I posted the shot to social media.  Chalk that one up to being color blind and a tad rushed.  Son of a ... let's just keep going.  My husband (best husband in the world, I might add) said it adds charm.  He's a keeper.

I kept going, adding the rest of the borders and trying to measure better this time.

It's not as wavy as it looks there, but to be honest, it IS a little wavy, since I didn't measure well.  ARGH!  At this stage, I was in the "starch, steam, and quilting could take care of that" stage.  Hopefully, anyway.

Then, I looked to see what Civil War repros I had that could work for the outer border.  I really like this blue:

But that's where I'm stuck.  Do I hate the green?  I'm not a green kinda gal, but it can work.  Do the green and blue not go?  Do neither of them work?  

Someone whose opinion I greatly value (my quilting mentor from years ago) said she doesn't think the green works at all, but that she likes the blue.  Too much of a statement from the green.  Maybe that's it -- I could see how the green could overpower the quilt.

I'd love to know what you all think.  I MIGHT have a soft brown I could substitute for the green -- or I'm sure I have muslin.  I hate to rip out (especially that much), but I don't want to be unhappy with this.

I won't be sewing for a few days still -- we're having our main floor carpeting ripped out and replaced, so we have a lot going on.  Please drop a comment or let me know on FB or email.  I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts!

Thanks for reading!

KZK

It's The Look On His Face!

Hi, everyone! I wrapped up another old project recently - still going through that stack of UFOs, trying to finish things up. This time, it's another small wall-hanging:

I'm calling it "Eagle And Stars".

As I recall, I appliquéd the eagle for something, had tried my hand at paper-piecing some 5-pointed stars, did some practice writing ... then just decided to put it all together. Fair enough, right? The eagle is an original, and let me admit fully that I AM NOT AN ARTIST. Seriously - check out the look on his face:

It totally cracks me up. When I hang it, I must hang it where I can see that face.

I quilted using this thread:

YLI Variations. I used it on the Forgotten Pyramids quilt, too - again, trying to use things up. I'm happy to say it is now gone.

Oh, I didn't use it all. I threw it OUT! That and every other spool like it. I could not get my machine (which is perfect) to hold a consistent tension with it. Too loose, too tight, no amount of adjusting sufficient to maintain any steady look. IN THE TRASH. I used to like it - a friend suggested that it could have been because it was older thread. That makes total sense, but let me add that the King Tut threads I have that are the same age don't treat me like that. LOL. Anyway, it's gone now. Long live the King!

For the binding, I once again did the "sew to the back, bring around to the front" machine-style:

Other than the on-going tension issues, it worked out fabulously!

I like how the star area came out:

I had initially quilted it differently - as well as the sashing - and ripped it all out.

Ask me if I'm glad I've finished this one!

As always, thanks for reading!
KZK