Saturday, September 18, 2010

Quilting Phrases

click on image to enlarge
"Better late than never" is a phrase that has been around forever and it's a phrase that seems to populate my life. My DH has turned  "When you see it, buy it. Don't wait" into a mantra for me. Or another way of putting it is "He who hesitates is lost". That last adage applies very much to my fabric buying habits, although it's not always apparent to me at the time. The quilt you see is very unusual for me. It's an "out of the box" quilt meaning I had never worked with such fabrics or colours before and I wanted to relate its story to you.
click on image to enlarge
Awhile back I went to my local quilt shop with nothing particular in mind. I was wandering aimlessly when all of a sudden I spied the "Dick and Jane-1940's" fabrics line. They just lept out and stirred something inside me. I have never, ever had that happen to me before. I felt transfixed (odd but true). I felt happy to the point of giggling, to the point of saying "be still my beating heart". I had no clue as to what to make so did not know how much to buy. Since I had  fabric stored at home (don't we all)  I felt I needed to be prudent and only purchased 1/3 yard pieces. The car could not get me home fast enough. The "rush" was still with me when I started cutting. I had no pattern to work with so just cut squares and hoped for the best. Please understand that I am not the type of person who rushes home from the store and sits down to cutting and sewing. This was all very unusual for me. Suddenly my world came crashing down. I did not have enough orange fabric for the sashing. I went back to the shop the next day to find they had sold out of everything. For 2 years I searched off and on for more sashing fabric and had given up. As luck would have it I finally found some 2 weeks ago and was able to finish the quilt. As I was photographing it I thought this quilt does not look finished. What do I need to make it look complete? Does anyone have any ideas? In the meantime, you now know that "Better late than never" and "When you see it, buy it" are part of my quilting life that I am trying very hard to change.
 I want to apologize for Thursday's unlinked blog. I am still new to the computer/blogging business and I thought I had done the job correctly but found out after I published it was not. It took a while to get resolved and I think I now know how to link (I hope) so that it will never happen again.Thank you for understanding.

4 comments:

Cheryll said...

Perhaps a plain outer border will do the trick. Maybe use a wide "orange" binding (or another orange border with thin orange binding depending on left over fabric. Then you can quilt a nice pattern in the plain section to show it off. Just an idea. Hope it helps.

Kelly@ Charming Chatter said...

Love your quilt (just as it is)! And, you are so right! I've been on the hunt for old fabric to finish a project many times! So glad you found what you were looking for - cute quilt!

Karen said...

Lovely post and wonderful quilt top! Out of the box can be a very good thing. :)

Lee Prairie Designs said...

I agree with Cheryll-- using a plain outer border should bring it all together and the orange binding would be perfect. Your quilt is cute and perky!

I have been there regarding not purchasing enough fabric! Although, I have learned my lesson now!!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Carolyn :) Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving such a sweet comment!