I will be handstitching down the bindings at my small group so still have to sew them on, but here's my project freshly off the sewing machine. I knew I had barely enough backing to use and as I quilted from the top down the top got into the white part of the selvage, so I took some of the binding fabric and stitched it down. Looks like about 1/4" will show of that on the back of the pink boat corner, not a bad fix!
Sometimes when I quilt I learn more about myself than I do about the process. Had some hard times with this top. I feel good with the workmanship of the piecing and the fabrics chosen. I really like working with stripes and this was a good project for them.
This was my first time using fleece for the back and overall I liked it and will do it again. I think I would like to use a really thin batting the next time. The color of my back is dark and didn't show through too much to the top, but I'd definitely consider putting in a piece of muslin or flannel or batting if I used a dark back with a light top. I thought it wouldn't matter since it was marked if I started the clam shells from the top or the bottom -- but I was wrong. It was much easier to connect the rows going from the bottom up.
I made some sort of of mistake numbering my blocks and placement, am not happy with the two red boats next to each other in the middle or the two waters in the upper corner, think I miss-numbered the center 1 and 2 blocks. I decided to not give in to my impulse to take the top apart and redo those blocks. But I'm really unhappy with the quilting
Had a rather tearful conversation with the hubby and a good talk to myself about it. I have vision issues with progressively declining vision. I thought I had already accepted that my best work is behind me -- I need to work more with what that means for me in the future. I need to tell myself that I'm relearning to quilt now, or at least learning to quilt with the vision I have. I already realized that I can't get the results I want on my old sewing machine even when my vision was better and although I was getting pretty good results that was years ago after years of practice. No wonder I had issues. But good news is I have a dear friend who lets me use her long arm. Note to self: Use Long Arm!
The reality is that the little boy this quilt is going to isn't going to care even if he does notice that some of the stitching is wonky, that I had to make some corrections, that the tension isn't quite right and the stitch size is mostly too small and definitely not consistent. It was made with love using the best workmanship I could do. I will give it with love and it will be received with love and hopefully used to rags with love.