Crushed Stamps

Just when I thought the post office and I were making nice they delivered one of my swap packages with nothing inside.  Uggh!  I was so upset because I started using delivery confirmation on everything to avoid these missing packages and crazy nonsense that is my relationship with the US Post Office.  So because of that the name "Crushed Stamps" is staying.  Maybe I will change my mind if we ever make up but I doubt that will be for a long time.

 I made this quilt following along with Rachel in the Postage Stamp Quilt Along (check out the other finished quilts here).  It was a lot of fun and went together really fast.  In fact the whole thing took about a month.  My dad was nice enough to offer to have this one taken to the long arm for me and I am so grateful for that because it probably would have equaled my post office experience had I tried to do it myself.  I used Anna Marie Horner's Innocent Crush fabric line and it is quilted in a soft purple gray.

 I kept the back super simple using just one fabric and a row of left over pieces from the front.  On my Freshcut Square Dance quilt (waiting at the long arm) I tried matching up the pattern repeat and just using a solid fabric for the back.  It went together pretty well for the most part but I think I like this method of a pieced back a little better.  Especially with a big print like this one.  It is a little easier than trying to match a pattern repeat.

This one is staying at my house and it will be nice to cuddle up under it on the couch.  The Christmas quilts have officially been washed and put away for now.  So now it's on to the next.  I'm working on the boarders for Twisted Fandango and hope to have a finished top to show you all soon.

A Marathon Quilt

Keeping up with Rachel and the Postage Stamp Quilt Along was a bit of a challenge but I am happy to say that I finished my postage stamp quilt right on time.  Leave it to Rachel to motivate us all by having a drawing for all of the participates who had a completed top at the end.  Of course my procrastination almost did me in once again.  I didn't order my jelly rolls until after the quilt along had already started.  Then I was very slow to sew my strips, cut the strips, and sew the blocks.  Of course all that procrastination meant that I was still sewing blocks together when I was suppose to be sewing my rows together.  I had originally planned to have this quilt finished on Monday night in time for the drawing on Tuesday but when I checked the flickr group on Monday, Rachel said she wasn't going to close the quilt along until Thursday.  So I watched House and went to bed on Monday instead.  Tuesday no sewing, I just didn't feel like it.  Which meant Wednesday night at 11:30 I was putting the final stitches in my quilt top.  A little less than a month and I have a finished top and back and she is in line waiting with Freshcut Square Dance to go to the longarm.  I had planned to quilt this one myself just using diagonal lines but then my Dad offered to have it quilted for me.  Well I'm no dumbie, I know that she will probably do a better job than I would and it will be a cuter pattern for the quilting so Crushed Stamps waits her turn.

I know "Crushed Stamps" are you all wondering about the name.  Well I used Innocent Crush for my fabric and it is a Postage Stamp Quilt and well if you've been reading along with me for awhile you know all about my love hate relationship with the United States Postal Office and their uncandid ability to lose, return, and tear my packages so I thought Crushed Stamps was a suitable name.  And well it's funny to me so why not.

If I were doing this one over I would do a few things a little differently.  Since I way over think placement on all of my quilts I did this one without laying out anything.  I just grabbed whatever was next and went with it.  No do overs!  And since I used a design roll and not a jelly roll I had more repeats in my fabric.  Of course looking at the finished top now there are spots I say oh man look there are like five in a row right there that are the same fabric.  All in all though I think it is just random enough to have that I look great without really trying look.  The other thing I would do differently would be the back.  Rachel's supply list called for 3 and 3/4 yards for the backing.  So when Aunt Bea's was closing and she had 4 yards of Innocent Crush on clearance I thought I had really lucked out.  I didn't realize that this would mean I needed to run the backing side to side instead of top to bottom the way I usually make my backs.  It's no big deal and it worked out in the end I just think if I was doing it again I would choose a busier pattern for the back and be sure that it is non directional.

So there you have it my marathon quilt, and since this one is going out to be quilted I'm on to the next.  A tumbler baby quilt for a coworker of mine.  If you haven't felt the Bliss Flannel yet it is dreamy.  I think I will track some down to make some lounge pants for me.