Dolls and Hearts Off to be Quilted

Last time I posted on the doll quilt I was deciding on a second striped border or not. See photo below repeated from this post.  I decided to not add a second striped border.

When I made the coral binding I discovered the fabric was not printed on grain...

so I fussy cut the binding so it would align with the printed image...

and folded it in half, then thirds, to wrap around the quilt edge.

 

I waffled for a while on how to cut the backing fabric and yesterday made great progress in striping the back with five rows of the children-holding-hands fabric.  See the backing below...

and a closeup of the children. 

With binding made and backing pieced, I am now going to hand this quilt off to the free motion quilter my daughter uses in Oklahoma. Normally I would lean toward sending a quilt of this size  to a long arm quilter- the quilt measures 55" wide x 63" long- but Mary Ann is very inventive in the patterns she creates, and also, in this case, I think it would be difficult to program a computer controlled machine to navigate around the three dimensional aprons of the dolls shown  up close in the picture below.  The picture also shows how when I banded the five rows of children on the backing I added enough extra at the top, about 6", to adjust the relative position of the top and backing prior to quilting.  The backing is folded over at the top to the front of the quilt; you can just barely see the coral band of the upper border showing through.

I also finished adding the three borders and made the backing and binding yesterday for the pink and lilac hearts baby quilt.  It, too, is off to the quilter but here is a sneak peek at the lilac/pink/lilac border and the rebellious, not delicate, fabric I picked for the backing.  Sorry about the wrinkles, folks.  Pix of finished product will be better.

 Completed projects:

1. Dolls- almost there but not quite
2. Pink/lilac/green baby quilt - almost there but not quite

Ongoing projects:

1. Doll quilt - borders added, backing pieced, binding made, off to free-motion quilter
2. Pink/lilac/green baby quilt - borders added, backing pieced, binding made, off to free-motion quilter

No progress (but re-listed here so I do not forget and leave buried in closet):

• Chicken quilt - made binding and picked backing
• Hexagon Mask Quilt - layout begun but overwhelming
• Fire and Ice Quilt- sitting in closet awaiting decision on backing
• Grinch Quilt - ripening on the design wall
• Pumpkin/Iris/Blossom square wall hanging- needs backing and binding

I want to start:

• Presents with Bows quilt kit
• The Ghastlies- strip quilt
• Rubber Duckies strip quilt

This week's stats:
     Completed  projects - 0 
     New projects - 0 
     Currently in progress - 2