The finished pillow is 24″ square. The pillow insert part is 18″ square. For the picture, I used some other pillows for the inserts. I’ll get the correct pillow inserts before Christmas.  I quilted the top with a holly and berry motif mixed in with loops. The first pillow is ok. The second one is better. I actually can see an improvement in my free motion quilting skills. And of course, they look good with the pillow that I embroidered.

I love it. The finished squares are 1″ and 1.5″ unfinished. Then I added a 1.5 unfinished border. When I squared up the quilt, I lost a bit of white border. I wish the white border was a bit larger. I used Oh, Franson’s fusible interfacing technique. For the most part the method worked. I never sewed the wrong squares together. Since the finished quilt is larger than fusible interfacing, I divided the maze into four sections. Then sewed the four sections together. Unfortunately, I did more ironing than pressing while making each sub-block. When I sewed the four blocks together, the final product was all wavy. Ugh!!! I need to be more patient when I’m pressing.

Three things saved the project. First, I sprayed the block with water and blocked it by pinning it to the carpet. Second, I added the white border and tried to make it square. Third, I quilted it with fairly dense stippling pattern. By the time, I added the border the quilt measured about 22″ square. I consider myself a bit lucky. It actually looks good hanging on the wall. Oh, I did one more thing. I used a 1/2″ binding instead of my normal 3/8″ binding. The wider binding hid a few sins.

I added a sleeve to the quilt and used a dowel and nails to hang it, a cheap and easy solution.

On the back, I added a label, but not an ordinary square label. Let’s look at the picture. It’s easier to see than explain.

I printed the label on ink jet-ready fabric. I believe it measures 8.5″ x 2.75 or something very close to that. Then I sewed it to another piece of fabric to make a tube.

I sewed the tube to the edges of the quilt. Of course, the binding covers the edges. I like the fact that the binding is machined stitched to the quilt. The finished label looks like it belongs on the quilt instead of just being thrown on the back. As more of my quilt backs are starting to look like quilts, I don’t want the label to interrupt the design. And yet I think it is important to label quilts. Not all of my quilts will stand the test of time, but a few might. I want my name to be there.

Now that this quilt is done and hung on the wall, I’m planning A-Maze-ing II.

In March, I finished a quilting sampler pillow. Then I got the bright idea to make some accompanying pillows. Here’s the first pillow to be.

I finished this top in March shortly after finishing the winter sampler. I totally put off making the second pillow top. I had three out of four hexagon center complete. The thought of making the fourth sent me searching for a different project. Well since, I’m dedicated to finishing an UFO, I’m slugged through making the hexagons. Now I’m sewing them together. I’m so close to being finished. I might even finish tonight. Then I can move on to sewing. Yea!

The project is facing one small hiccup. I’m running out of the green in the borders. I made the first pillow without even stopping to figure out if I can enough fabric to make the second pillow. I highly doubt that I’ll find more of that fabric. I purchased the green fabric over six years ago. I do think I can find fabric the same color. At least the pillows will look like they belong together.

The front:

The back:

Overall, I’m quite pleased with the quilt. At first, I wanted a darker gray solid, like Kona Charcoal. I couldn’t find any at a local store. So I went with my second choice, Kona Coal. I think my second choice turned out to be the best choice. As I mentioned, I quilted it with an all over loop design. For batting, I used a 100% polyester batting by Warm & Natural. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either. It’s a little stiff. I’m hoping if I wash it a few more times, the quilt will soften and, it will be a cuddly quilt. Either way, my cats think it’s completely acceptable as it is.

After binding the quilt, Ross and I played with sparklers and the camera. In the picture of Ross, I think I captured my sparkler in the corner. I think playing with a sparkler in one hand and a camera in the other isn’t the best combination.

OK. Some how I missed blogging the whole month of June. I thought about it, but some how my blog and I didn’t connected. Tonight, I’d like to  make amends and summarize the last 4-5 weeks of my life.

Much of our time was spent in out garden. Despite neglect, our rose bushes looked beautiful. Ross shot this picture, which I love. He’s willing to take the time to set up the tripod and shoot until he gets what he wants. The rose bushes are no longer neglected. Ross has decided to care for them. It is amazing how good the look now. We’re hoping to get a second bloom.

One day in a work meeting we were talking about using games to teach, which lead me to think about my favorite video game from my youth. I loved playing A-Mazing on out TI-99. The video game inspired this maze quilt. When I get it quilted, I’ll post more information on the development process.

Then Father’s Day arrived. I had a hard time thinking of an appropriate Father’s Day gift for my dad. So to hold him over, I gave him some peanut clusters in these neat shirt boxes. I can’t find the link I used. If I do, I’ll post update.

After Father’s Day, I made a big change with my life. I started a new job. So far the change has been all positive. It was sad leaving my co-workers, but it feels really good to stretch my wings and prove to myself that I can do new things.

The veggie garden continues to grow. I think this picture is about a week old. It has grown a ton even from this picture. Green tomatoes are starting to form. Tonight I noticed baby cucumbers starting to form. I can’t wait to eat fresh food from our garden.

The holiday weekend gave me the opportunity to spend some time with some of my favorite people while we waited for fireworks. Laying in a park and reading a magazine is a perfect way to spend a Saturday evening.

I even snagged this picture of Ross washing our car. It looks all nice and spiffy. It’s ready for a road trip.

I didn’t make Ross work all weekend. We did attempt a bike ride on the Jordan Parkway. Unfortunately, about one mile into our ride, Ross’ back tire popped. While we had a patch kit, we didn’t have a spare tube as we put the spare tube on his front tire before we left. Ross has a bit of bad luck with tire tubes. Even though we didn’t get far, Ross does want to ride more. He’s even thinking about a new bike, which he really could use. I will definitely get a picture of our next bike ride.

To top off the weekend, I basted a quilt and started quilting it. I’m quilting an allover loop pattern. It is going quickly. I hope to be done by the end of the week.

To keep things simple, I decided to do an all over loop pattern. It is a forgiving pattern that doesn’t require marking or too much pre-planning. The quilting process did take more time than quilting straight lines, but I’m so happy with the results that I can live with the time investment. Here’s a glimpse at a corner. I used gray thread to match the Kona Coal.

For the most part, I maintained my stitch length, and there aren’t too many jagged curved. My machine even cooperated. It really could use a tune-up. So I’m counting myself lucky. I was surprise at how much thread I used. When I bought the quilting supplies, I bought 500 yards of thread. 500 yards didn’t even finish half the quilt. I went back and bought three more spools. When I was done, I had a bit of thread left on the fifth spool. That’s over 1000 yards of thread for a quilt that measures 64″ x 64″.

And for a parting shot, here’s the whole back. I’ll reveal the front when I’m done hand sewing the binding. I need to go find a good movie.