I Cheated on my UFO’s and I’m So HAPPY I’ll Share My Bliss With a Giveaway!
Aaaah, the joy of outsourcing my quilting troubles . . . bliss!
Several posts ago, I faced my UFO demons and decided to prioritize my unfinished quilts. There was a particularly beastly one in the bunch. Naturally, it was my only quilt-to-be that had wedding-present potential for my newly engaged nephew and his fiancé. The problem was that nearly 100 Y-seams separated me from finishing it as a wedding quilt. Yes, I’ll repeat: ONE-hundred Y-seams!
What possessed me? Ah, that would be Laura Nownes (my dear blogging sister) and one of her Empty Spools workshops. Some time back, I had signed on to make Diamond Jubilee, a popular From Me to You pattern she developed with Diana McClun.
A constellation of stars pinned into submission.
Once home, the project overwhelmed me; in fact, my scary star quilt didn’t even make my UFO list until the engagement was announced earlier this year. Could I? Noh-uh! Not with a job, a family, a blog, and piles of other things. Then, I wondered: what about outsourcing? Could I afford to subsidize a Y-seam extravaganza? Could I even find a willing sewer?
Things were grim after two refusals, but then I encountered an intrepid novice quilter with a mentor to guide her. Okay . . . luckiest break ever: I scored Diana McClun’s protégée Ashleigh Jones. Not only was Ashleigh willing to take on such a daunting chore, she had the pattern’s co-designer for expert input.
I scrimped and saved so I could pay my tab when the quilt was finished. The result? The best quilt-outsourcing decision ever: Ashleigh did a fantastic job (better even than I could have managed). The edges of the quilt were perfectly aligned plus, and probably the hardest part of the sewing task, the quilt top lay flat—not a poof in that galaxy of stars. And as for the newlyweds? Looks like I scored there as well. Phew!
A neon image of "Starz-a-palooza" . . . an epic and insane quilt! Yes, I outsourced the machine quilting (ala Deb McPartland). Hey, I did the binding though--a very fashion-forward faced variation with striped corner triangles.
The fabulous fabrics for the quilt's backing, binding, and setting triangles.
Guess what? Laura’s giving me five patterns for a giveaway this week. Here’s your winning strategy for this drawing: leave a comment describing a crazy thing you’ve done to finish a project. I’ll draw 5 random names from those brave enough to tell a tale. You’ve got a week to spill the beans (that’s Friday, November 4) and I’ll announce the winners on my next scheduled post, Friday, November 11. Specify your pattern choice: Diamond Jubilee, Diamond Jubilee II, (neither has Y-seams) or Tumbling Stars (the Y-seam variation) in your comment.
