In the Nick of Time

Well, almost...

When I first started quilting over a decade ago, all the quilts I made had somebody's name on it. It wasn't long before I started working and teaching at the local quilt shop (LQS). It didn't matter – my projects were still always getting made for family and friends. The ones I kept tended to be those I made as shop samples and they were frequently unfinished quilt tops. Isn't that just par for the course?

As some of you may remember, the LQS held an annual student exhibit on a glorious (usually!) late Spring Saturday that quilters and their families and friends would attend. One year, teachers' quilts were to be featured. I was quite excited about that – until I realized that I didn't have any that I wanted to feature! (Luckily, dear friends came through and lent me the quilts I had made for them – including the quilt with the barely noticeable baby spit.)

That event made me realize that I had to make quilts to keep for myself. Well, let's just say that I seem to have gone a wee bit overboard! The unfinished quilt tops now need to completed and some need a new home. One of these was the soft and subtle Sweet Tea designed by Nancy Murty of Bee Creative Studio. For a year, it hung in the LQS machine quilted but unbound. This last week, I so dearly wanted to finish its binding so it could go home with my brother-in-law and his wife. Unfortunately, binding isn't my favorite part of quilting (ehem, understatement!) and so, even more unfortunately, I found myself procrastinating.

Wading through my stash, I surfaced with at least a half dozen quilt tops which needed backing. Aha! All of a sudden, finding and preparing the backing for these quilt tops seemed to be the most important thing. (Great idea for procrastinating, wasn't it?) Next week, preparing the batting for these projects could be the excuse for not getting back to my Finishing School. Then, the week after that, it would be the machine quilting. Then, the week after that, I would have to look for more quilt tops (YES, I HAVE MORE!!!) because otherwise I would be faced with even more binding to do!

So Saturday night found me with a queen sized quilt that needed its binding done and, by gosh, I was going to finish it! Yes, I was – by midnight I said...until I fell asleep in the middle of things and woke up in the early hours of Sunday morning thanks to the infomercial blaring from the TV.

Still, I got my second wind, changed TV stations, and did finally finish the binding before dawn on Sunday! Phew! So it was done very nearly in the nick of time....so much for planning the title of this post ahead of time.

By the way, I appreciate your comments on my summer project. Some are joining me including Sue who has tweaked the rules for herself to include projects in general. This apparently includes finishing a one-seam sundress for her daughter. I wonder how long that has been a UFO and how hard it truly would be to finish! Can't wait to find out.