Unity is finished

Over the weekend, I put nose to the grindstone and finished my "Unity" quilt top.   I found the next-to-last round of this quilt quite difficult, requiring quite a bit of time with "Jack" the ripper and requiring what designer Bonnie Hunter called "ease."  There was quite a bit of stretchy easing needed to get the whirling blocks to fit, so much so that I decided not to make the last two pieced sides.  Instead, I put two solid 2" borders around and, while they were hard to "ease" on, they will, I hope, help the quilt lie squarely.

I'll take it to be long arm quilted this week, and as usual I'll be glad to see it leave our house!  I'll deliver the Tulip Tango quilt then, too.   Today I sewed the back for that quilt, and I also made some double pinwheel blocks, the online group's block for July.

The blocks at the bottom are the blocks for the month, and one will be swapped and the other kept.  I'll probably make a few more of those to go in a sampler I've been working on all year.  

After finishing those blocks, I got out my "orphan" box and started working on an appliqued piece I've had on my mind for a long time.  It's based on an antique quilt a guild member brought to a meeting.  Mine will use a pieced background (which was already in the box) and melon shapes in similar colors, but here's what was shown at guild.  

I haven't done any hand applique in a long time so this was fun.  I'll work on it again tomorrow.

Finished quilt top and blocks

 

I love Tulip Tango fabrics by Robin Pickens and used a fat eighth bundle and some yardage to finish this 70" x 70" throw.  It's now hanging in the closet, waiting for me to decide whether to quilt it myself or take it to be long armed.  The Sawtooth Star blocks are 12", 8", 6", and 4" which turned out to be a challenge to put together because of a lack of unifying background.  But I made it work.  The center block is a 6" one with multiple borders.   Yesterday I made a few crumb blocks using tiny leftovers and today I'll put the rest of the scraps away for a while.

I also made a couple of 6" Rosebud blocks for the online guild's block of the month.  I asked Karen H. to choose this for the month, and she found it in that old reliable Sylvia's Bridal Sampler by Jennifer Chiaverini.

I used Tulip Tango scraps for this block which I will send to whoever wins this month's lottery, but the one I'll keep is burgundy and gold for another block of the month quilt.  I think I have made plenty of blocks for that quilt, so I'll probably put it together this month if I have time.  

There are still blue RSC blocks to make, and I'd also like to make some headway on the next-to-last round of the Unity quilt.  And, looking ahead, there's our week in Colorado later in the month to celebrate Mom's 100th birthday.  I still have a few things to do to prepare for the trip and party, including getting a haircut and a little shopping.  It's going to be a busy month.

Feeling better

 You know I'm feeling better when I get back to sewing.  I bought a bundle of fat eighths of a Moda line called Tulip Tango and plan to make a quilt with sawtoothed stars in different sizes to show off the lovely prints.  Here is the first batch of blocks.

As I was cutting four 8" blocks at one time this morning, I saw the following on one of the selvages.

I've never seen such a sweet sentiment on a selvage, but I sure agree with it!  Thank you, Lady Bird, for brightening my day!