Posted on by agilejack

Borders. Blech.

I finally felt like doing a little sewing tonight so after a lovely evening walk with a gorgeous sunset along the trail I hit my sewing room.

I’m loving having light for at least a portion of my evening walks. And I’m seeing more and more flowers popping up all over the place. We saw a lovely bunch of daffodils. I’m pretty sure someone must have peed on them…

Those boys were VERY interested in those daffs.

So, anyway. I hit my sewing room when we got home to get the borders put on my first sunburst quarter log cabin quilt.

It took a little bit of time to get the borders cut because I want the fabrics along each side to repeat the same design. I’m not as concerned about the borders on all four sides matching, however. It used to really bother me when the borders on all four sides didn’t match. But now, unless I’m making a wall hanging, I only care that the borders on each side repeat nicely. No one will see all four sides of the quilt at the same time when it’s on a bed.

As you may know, this final stage is not my favorite part of making a quilt top. I really dislike manhandling all that bulk. It was all so heavy on my cutting table, I had to use a hammer to hold it in place so I could use both hands to pin the border on.

So much bulk! Very possibly some swearing involved in this part.

While I did manage to cut the borders for all four sides, I only managed to get them sewn onto two sides of the quilt. then I folded it up and pinned it up onto my portable design wall just to have some place to put it.

I love how that seam between the border and the setting triangles almost disappears. This fabric is a little bit magic.

And… I am soooo glad I decided to use this red lotus leaf fabric rather than the orange one I had picked out originally.

It’s so gorgeous!!

I found myself wishing my friend was here to help me press all this stuff!!!

Even my handsome boys look really good with all that red. You know how much I like a graphic black and white with these bright prints!!!

Good grief! What a couple of goof balls!

A couple of people commented on my last blog post that the Wensleydale paper piecing templates were available for sale. So I hopped online and ordered some. They arrived this evening. Thanks for the heads up on these! Now I don’t have any excuses for putting this off!

I’m happy to say that fake spring has ended here in Portland and real spring has begun. The daffodils in my front yard will be popping open any minute now.

The first few blooms on my flowering plum tree have opened up. This should be glorious by early next week. And it will probably be bare the next day! These blooms don’t last long.

The blooms on my flowering pear trees (I have planted 11 of them in my yard!!!) are almost ready to open. I just love these trees.

I ran across a vibrant clump of crocuses on our walk this afternoon.

My boys were happy to spend a good part of the day outside as I worked today. Even they appreciate the gorgeous weather. I did a couple zoom meetings on the patio today.

When my boys did come in the house, they needed more napping.

Poor things.

41 Replies to “Borders. Blech.”

  1. Fabulous post, Anne and delightful pics – especially the last one! Made me think of playing hide and seek with my 2 year old granddaughter who hides behind the curtains and peeps out just like that!
    Adore your quilt, full of gorgeousness, well done, you.
    Dental implant for me today, need to get up and showered. Wish me luck!
    Lindy x

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      1. Thanks Anne, the implant went well -2 hours in the chair – I look a bit like a hamster with a stuffed pouch on one side but otherwise I’m doing ok. Have to take it easy next few days so I’ll be hand sewing my City and Guilds final quilt ready for the end of year show in May.
        Have a lovely weekend
        Lindy x

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  2. Lotus leaf for the win! Love the shots of the boys lounging around, they do it so well. Weird question here: I zoomed in on your screen door…are those star shapes some kind of repairs made to the screen?! If so, can you take a close up of that section?! Mosquito season is coming, ya know!!

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    1. Several years ago I sat down with a needle and some different colors of embroidery thread and embroidered some stars onto the screen to make it more visible to the dogs so they wouldn’t go charging through it and destroy it!!! it’s worked really well, but it’s time to replace the thread. it’s faded and worn out.

      I put a photo of it on Facebook when I first did it. See if you can see it through this link:https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=732675426758736&set=a.704478552911757

      If you can’t see it, email me at anne@agilejack1.com and I’ll send it to you. Make sure you tell me your looking for a photo of the embroidery on my sliding door.

      Anne

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  3. The boys are very cute and loveable goofballs!

    Beautiful pictures of signs of spring! Daffodils, Crocus, Plum blossoms, and the gorgeous sunset!

    I love, love, love the the Lotus leaf for the border. As much as I like the orange paisley, it wasn’t right for this quilt. Most of the overall floral prints are great for losing the seam. The bulk of the quilt it a challenge to maneuver but worth it for the icing on the quilts needing a border.

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  8. I love the pictures of your boys. They are goofballs but only in the sweetest way ever. Your border fabric turned out to be the best choice, it’s beautiful. King size quilts are very heavy, I’ve only made two so far. I bought hand weights to use for holding down my fabrics and ruler, they work great.

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    1. I’ve never made a king size quilt. I think this is the fourth queen quilt I’ve made. it’s way too big for me to manipulate. I can’t imagine dealing with a king quilt!!! No thanks!!!

      The weights are a great idea.

      Anne

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  9. I lhave replied to yu before, asking about a pattern for this quilt. Just love it, and the border you picked is beautiful. Love all your new spring flowers. I too have a flower bed in the back yard, and my helobores is blooming, beautiful purple blooms. Had a hard cold winter, and some of the leaves have brown around the edges. Your dogs ae adorable, You have a wonderful life. I am binding ” The August Quilt”. Has 15 different plain rainbow fabrics, and I matched all the colors for the binding. A quilt for my grand daughter. Enjoy your e-mails Phyllis P>S. I didn’t start quilting until my mother passed away at 98 years young and I found blocks she had made for “Grandmothers Flower Garden” and I finished it. I am now 95 years young.

    >

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    1. I want to be just like you when I grow up!!! I hope I’m still doing this at 95!!! I love it that you’re still creating and making wonderful things. What an amazing gift for your grand daughter! And what a wonderful thing to finish your mother’s quilt! I hope you kept that one for yourself.

      Thanks for reading!

      Anne

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  10. I ordered a steel plate from Lowe’s to fit under my cutting mat and then got some powerful magnets. It is great for when I have a lot of fabric since I can use the magnets to keep it from slipping. Also handy if I have long strips that I am cutting into squares, triangles, etc. I can put the magnets on the ends and they keep the strips from moving as I cut. The only drawback is that it doesn’t work with my thicker cutting mats, like Quilter’s Select, but it works great with my thinner Olfa.

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    1. why did I never think of magnets? My cutting table is a stainless steel restaurant table. it’s made for magnets!!! I’m going to try this! it might be a life changer for me!!! THANK YOU!!!

      Anne

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  13. This quilt top is gorgeous! The lotus leaf fabric was the first KF fabric I loved and it’s still a favorite. Special thank you for all the spring pictures. 😊👍🏻

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    1. Thanks! I love the lotus leaf two. Might be my favorite of the Kaffe designs. There’s something just magic about it!

      I’m happy to share our spring with those who are still waiting!

      Anne

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  14. That sunset – OMG. I start to dislike making quilts once I start sewing the rows together. I don’t like it again until I’m putting on the binding. And then my absolute favorite part is pulling it out of the dryer!!!

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    1. You should just like me! I just hate the final construction of a quilt! There just isn’t any fun in it for me… by that time it’s become a JOB! But I do like seeing them done!

      Anne

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  15. Enjoyed these pictures so much. Thank you! It’s so nasty here, but our 2 1/2 ft. of snow is finally gone. Oh, as far as your poor, worn out bums are concerned — I doubt if ANYBODY feels sorry for those 2 “abused” pups!

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    1. I should do that. The only thing I usually cut and bring in the house is lilacs. I have a gorgeous snowball bush. I should try those in a vase. the blooms are as big as my two fists together!

      Anne

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  17. Everything is beautiful, The quilt, the spring-like weather, the flowers, and the boys. And they look good around any color. Rico looks like he’s only staying there because Anne told him to and he’s waiting to dash away as soon as possible.

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    1. Rico absolutely hates having his photo taken. He’s all happy on his walk until I stop and pull out my phone and he immediately looks like I’m torturing him.

      Anne

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  18. The boys, as always, are very handsome…but I got sidetracked by the drapes (I think I might have told you that my favorite color is Orangish/rustish/fallish. So I’m loving those drapes, and Bender thinks they look even better with him wearing them!

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    1. I made those drapes out of table cloths!!! I absolutely love them. It’s so hard to find really colorful and quality drapes that don’t cost a fortune. I just love these!

      Anne

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