Almost made it!

Even though it's the first of August, I wanted to quickly share that today I managed to get July's monthly mini quilt finished! It was so close to being finished yesterday, all that remained was to hand stitch down half of the binding while Mary was napping today.

I pieced the top on Saturday, and basted it ready for quilting - I mentioned in the last post that it's the Highland Plaid block from the Moda Blockheads 4 project.

There are a couple of absolute golden oldies amongst the fabrics I used, this one from the tub gifted to me by Pam Holland:

So vintage - this one is all gone now! The larger sashing strips in blue and the binding fabrics are from the same tub. It's like a lovely trip down memory lane.

Here it is prior to quilting:

I got busy quilting on Sunday, and got about twenty minutes in, and realised I hadn't glue basted the backing fabric accurately. An absolute rookie move - I didn't even bother to check it before I started quilting. I was working on freemotion quilting a fabulous feather border after doing some securing stitches with the walking foot. For whatever reason I turned a corner of the quilt over and saw the most terrible puckers and pleats on the back. Horror! So I then spent the next two hours picking out the quilting! It was a lesson in patience, and I made it through!

After that, I just didn't have it in me to work up a fancy quilting design, instead I quilted a simple allover pattern so I could call it done.

It's all finished now, and in place on the coffee table in the lounge room. I think it can stay there for a bit ... 

Each time I wander past I find another little shard of thread to pick off the top. It'll be a constant reminder to check that the back is okay before I spend too long quilting.

A big thank you to Wendy Caton Reed for hosting the montly mini challenge. Be sure to stop by her blog and have a look at what all the other ladies are working on. Have a great week friends!