Finishing up

   Yes, it is April 1st....known to most as April Fools, but around here it is known as Deana's birthday.  Happy Birthday, and congratulations on winning the Pacesetter's Award at work.  It is long overdue and very well deserved.  I know I am biased--that's a Mom for you!

   The big quilt is done and named--Pathways.   The sun was out for the first time in days, so I thought I would grab a few shots outside.  Great idea...good light, but wrong, wrong, wrong move!  Because when I finished and folded the quilt up, it was covered with pollen stains all over the back.  Oh, no!!!  The rainy days had "cleared" the air of pollen and literally deposited it all onto my deck.    So as I post this, the quilt is in the washer. 

This photo shows  the prairie points that go around three sides.   They are not folded fabric, but  stitched, turned inside out, and quilted.  Kind of a pre-finish technique.  Why?   I wanted the points to have some weight to them and felt just folded fabric points were too flimsy.  And  using a binding finish was out of the question with this many points. 

Adding the points and finishing: 

Once the quilt was quilted and the edges squared off, I pinned the points around three side (not the top).  I was able to space the points--sligthly over lapping some--to make them fit the space. 

I used a 2 inch strip of the backing fabric that was folded in half as a facing strip.  The facing strip and points were stitched at the same time to the quilt body. 

Once sewn then the facing is turned to the back and the points create the finished edge. 

From the back....the folded edge of the facing strip is pressed and pinned in place.  At this point you could hand stitch it in place like a binding.  I used two rows of straight stiching to finish it off---one row about 1/4"  in from the points and the second row along the edge of the facing strip. 

Insight:  Think twice about taking photos of quilts outside....beware the pollen and put an old sheet underneath the quilt first.  And power wash the deck!

             

Now to clean up the sewing space, do something with all the leftover scraps, work on the jacket blocks, make another journal quilt, and more blocks for the blended florals.  I think I have enough to keep me busy.  Happy stitching.