Almost finished...

I've been trying to finish Krystal's quilt this week, and I have actually surprised myself with my progress!!! As I've said before, I love to piece quilts, but hate to finish them. (Hmm.... kinda like the rest of the unfinished projects in my life! I think I see a trend...)

I was determined that I would finish this one off before I started a new one, as I am somewhat embarrassed that this was supposed to be a Christmas present and it is still not finished!! I finally started putting it together on Tuesday. I tried using quilt basting spray for the first time, instead of safety pins. I am now a convert! I found it sooo much easier to use and much less frustrating. I had no problems sticking it all together (though I have yet to give the wood floor a much-needed mop, as there is the messy issue of overspray...) and was able to get straight onto the machine to start the quilting. I used my walking foot, and quilted it in straight lines around the squares. I have yet to try stippling - I did just get a free-motion needle thing, and really want to give it a go, but this quilt was so symetric, I wanted to keep it that way. I used white thread on the top and red on the back, and I really like how it turned out.

Here are pics of the back and front:

I really couldn't believe my progress - by the end of the day I had finished all of the quilting! I had expected this part to drag on, as I normally don't have the patience / concentration to stick with it, but it just flew. I think I must be improving??

By the end of the night, I even had the binding sewn on! (Although I wasn't really thinking by that point, and cut the binding strips too thick - only realised it when I was 3/4 of the way through sewing it on, so I decided just to go with it... The binding is really wide on the back, but I don't actually mind it now!) I have finished one of the sides, three more to go and then another finished quilt!