Almost Done!

I finally made some progress on the black and white tree quilt. Everything is basted/pinned and ready for quilting now.

I even learned a few lessons along the way:

1. Taping the quilt backing to the floor is not an optional step, even on small quilts. It helps eliminate wrinkles that later require taking out and putting back in pins. Ugh.

2. Some fabric is better than others for raw edge applique. I'm still figuring that one out.

3. I tried sewing on leaves in groups so that I wouldn't have hundreds of tiny pins poking my belly while I sewed. This worked. Unfortunately it also led to some uneven grouping of leaves and not my best layout ever. Perhaps the poking of pins in my belly will not be a problem in a little while.

4. I want to find a different width for my binding. Cutting strips at 2.5 inches, then folding it in half makes for too narrow of a binding for my tastes. I'll work on this one.

5. Not so much a lesson, but I need to figure out why my permanent fabric marking pens died on my so quickly. Not cool.

Wish me luck as I finish up the quilting and binding this week/weekend! I'd love to have this quilt done and move onto a special custom order I've received. More on that tomorrow!