Project Progress: Baby Clothes Quilt Week 9

Oooo! Almost done.

First off, I have to thank you all for being with me on this one. I never would have finished quilting the top (YEP! It's quilted!) this week if it wasn't for the push of having to own up to you all on Friday.

First up, the slit Aubrey cut in my border. I'm lucky it wasn't worse with multiple/deeper lesions.Here it is, all fixed up. If I was being picky, I would have replaced the border, but I wasn't, so I put right sides together and sewed it up, much like a dart in clothing. It fixed up pretty nicely. My quilt is not particularly flat to start with, so this was no big thing.
Pic of my set up quilting in my mom's kitchen yesterday. My sister and she picked blackberries at my sister's mother-in-law's garden and they made blackberry juice and syrup while I quilted. My mom had her machine set up at her kitchen table, because she is making drapes for her newly remodeled kitchen. It's a bar height table. I think she's crazy for choosing to sew there. It was less like driving a car and more like dancing on point to reach the sewing machine's foot peddle. Still, I managed to finish.One of the squares:These photos really show off the organic lines. I got the idea from this brilliant quilter, the artist behind Tallgrass Prairie Studio. She is a genius. I love her quilts and she is much more talented than I am. Anyway, she warned me that it would be time-consuming and thread-devouring, but I, like a dense dumb-butt (excuse the language), didn't believe her. You should always believe experts. You can read her post with pictures of her absolutely stunning quilt here. It's the second quilt down.

It took me 35 minutes to sew one row and one sash--which makes nearly 7 hours of quilting. Normally, I can quilt a twin in about three hours. It took 9 lines of thread to run out of bobbin thread. There are approximately 10 lines of thread per section and 11 sections, so I changed my bobbin about 12 times. I hate winding bobbins. Someday, I want to pay someone to wind my bobbins and fan me while I quilt. With a palm frond and feeding me grapes. Or M&Ms. Whichever.
Then I trimmed up the edges.
The quilting is finished! The only thing left is the binding. I love the organic lines, as it allowed me to navigate the buttons, snaps, zippers and bows without interrupting my quilting. I still did break a needle, but not too bad for all the lumpies this quilt has. It's worse than a scrapbook page.
I love the warmth and texture it gives the quilt. It really is such a snugly thing. I'm very tempted to keep it for myself to sleep with every night.
Next week, I should have pictures of it FINISHED! I've also been rounding up all the pictures I can find of Aubrey wearing the clothes I used in the quilt, and I have quite a few, so I will share those with finished pictures next week. Then I have to pick a new project for my Project Progress feature. Any suggestions? Another quilt, perhaps? Or a quilt made from my boys' baby clothes? Or a fall clothing collection for Aubrey? Or a special mini-album? A home decor project? What do you all think?

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.