Bliss Quilt Complete

Mission Accomplished.  I work well on a deadline.  Thanks, Amy, for hosting the "One Thing, One Week Challenge."  My goal was to finish the quilting on this quilt  (so I could retrieve my basting pins).

Here's the quilting . . . in all its puckered glory.  My straight line quilting needs a lot of practice . . . or a walking foot.

As a bonus, I even got it bound.  Now I just need to figure out who I'm going to give it to ;)

Quilt stats:

Fabric: Bliss charm pack by Bonnie & Camille for Moda, Kona Rich Red, Kona White, bound in a Riley Blake stripe

Size: 44" x 52"

Pattern: Chain Linked by Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter

Now that the pins are retrieved, I can finish Joe's quilt.  I'm tired of cringing every time I take a picture of my cute BOY on this very GIRL colored quilt.

"Uhh, mom, I don't do pink."

Workshop in Progress: Thread Color & Quilting Design?

I'm linking up to Cheryl's Workshop in Progress on Naptime Quilter.  I love to quilt, but I don't love the actual quilting . . . I never feel confident in choosing thread color and design.  And frankly, I don't practice enough for my quilting to ever look good to me.  I always have to remind myself of my mother's mantra, "It looks good from the stage."  In other words, no one is ever going to see my tiny mistakes.

Anyway, here's my workshop delimma.  I made the red quilt just for fun (based on Amy's "Chain Linked" pattern from Diary of a Quilter) and loved it so much that I decided to make my baby's quilt from the same pattern.

Here's how I've done the quilting on the red quilt.  Straight line quilting outlining the shape of the optical illusion and around each square.  I'm thinking of adding another "set" of squares inside each square too (in fact, convinced that I will.)  I find this process rather tedious . . . stop and turn at each corner, but I do like how it looks.

So my question is, should I use the same pattern on Joe's quilt?  The back is a bit busy (shown below).  Or should I just stipple all over (to accomodate the back and to get it done faster)?  Either way, what thread color should I use?  My instinct is to take the time to straight line quilt it with a dark brown thread, but wonder if I should switch to a light blue thread on the light blue parts.  If I stipple, would a dark brown work, or should I try for a lighter brown?

Thanks for your input!

The "One Thing" Challenge

Last night, I was in "think-about-everything-you-have-to-do" panic mode.  The best therapy: write it all down.  This side is just my unfinished quilting projects.  The other side has everything else ;)

See what it says? "Cathartic or panic-inducing?"  I'm embarrassed to say that there's nearly 20 projects on there.  Some are so close to being done . . . like an hour of quilting or even just the binding . . . and others are still in just the "I purchased fabric for this idea" stage.

I woke up this morning to find Amy's (of Amy's Creative Side) One Thing, One Week Challenge.  Just what I needed . . . a chance to focus on just one thing.





So, here's my goal for the week.  I'm going to finish quilting this quilt.  It may look familiar.  It was the "test run" for Joe's quilt.  Or maybe it was just so fun to make that I needed to make one that would match one of my family members.

Besides, I need the pins so I can finish Joe's quilt.

What's your one thing?