Mothers' Day 2012

It's a beautiful day here in South Texas.  My daughter actually beat her brother calling to wish me a Happy Mothers' Day.  Hope all the mothers out there had a great

I completed a UFO yesterday.  It was not a very long term WIP (work in progress), I started it last October.  The quilt kit was purchased in Paducah.  My husband took us on a side-trip from our September Ohio trip so I could experience Hancocks of Paducah.  He spotted the quilt on display, and I found the quilt kit on a discounted table.
I made an attempt to finish it for this past Christmas, but I didn't make it... I missed it by several months.  Now that the top is complete,  I owe it to my husband to get it quilted before this next Christmas.  I think that might be a great possibility.  I already have a panto design with poinsettias.

Speaking of UFO's, I had another quilt that I started in March, so I'm not sure it qualifies as a UFO.  Three other ladies and I were on a retreat in Rockport and we decided on this pattern for a project we could all learn from.  I was kind of taking the lead and gave the other ladies some guidance.  When I got home I found I should have paid closer attention to the instructions.  I have the tendency to "wing it" and this time it nipped me pretty good.  I had to modify the outside border to finish the top.  I don't usually show someone how to do something that I have not had the opportunity to test.  We decide on this quilt at the retreat and I thought it looked pretty doable.  If you look in the middle you will note there is a double strip that is not between the two side blocks.  This was added to make the border wide enough.  If you didn't know it was a mistake, I think it would be rather hard to pick it out.  I didn't discover my mistake until I got home, so I had to come up with a fix and let everyone know I had instructed them incorrectly.

 Next obstacle that I had was my husband.  First he didn't think it looked right to make an Hawaiian quilt in black & white.  Then I had a friend give me some fabric for the binding that I thought would work great, only to find out that my husband didn't think I should introduce another totally contrasting color in the binding.  I folded the quilt top up and put it aside.  Last week we bought a patio set that needed a table cloth and this quilt top was the perfect size.  I went to my stash looking for a backing and found this gray and red piece that added the necessary introduction of red into the quilt.... so I went ahead and used the red/black/gray & white striped binding.  I think it turned out beautiful.  He had to agree when I showed him the backing that it was OK to use the binding.  I do have to add here that my husband is my best critic.  He has a good eye for color coordination and more often than not, his opinion is very helpful.  So typically I pay attention to what he has to say.