All that is left to do is the binding! And almost another finish. I’m finishing so many things right after another which means new things will be popping up soon 
I will machine sew the binding onto the front tomorrow and then work on the hand stitching as I feel like it.
The blocks
The backing – I used the leftover fabric from Star Crazy - I’ll show this one again after I get it hanging on the wall in the bedroom – I guess that means I might have to clean off the top of the dresser it will be hanging above – darn it!
This is what I was talking about for repair work on the quilting frame. There were at least 3 sections like this or larger where the glue was no longer holding the fabric to the bars.
I got all of the repair work done this afternoon so by tomorrow I should be able to start putting Joseph’s Coat on to the frame. I took it to quilt group this morning and got everything trimmed down. This of course is taken before I had it all trimmed down to size – I had the sides cut how I wanted it but still needed to cut some off the bottom when I took this photo.
Before I trimmed – one more shot of it laying flat – for the next 6 months or so you will only see it rolled up on the frame!
So many things to do–how can one get bored when you are a quilter? My table is covered with things at the moment – I got the Red and Green quilt out yesterday and the box of fabric that has been put aside for when I continued to work on the border – I will be starting to get some green pressed first I think for the “vine” that will connect all the applique together on the border. I will need about 300 inches of it at least I think and most likely closer to 380.
I worked on Pineapple Square yesterday and made great progress on this little quilt. Instead of pin basting and taking it off the frame to get the Joseph’s Coat quilt on it I will just finish it on the frame – I am so close to finish it makes more sense to just finish it where it is. Also when I was putting this little quilt top on the frame I noticed a section or two of the fabric pulling away from the metal rods – “leaders” I believe it is called – the stripe ticking that I attach the quilt to? I need to pick up some adhesive today while I am in town and then when I take the pineapple square off the quilt frame tonight (yes I will probably finish it this afternoon or evening) I can do the repair work and let it dry for 24 hours and then get Joseph’s Coat on the frame Sunday.
Down to the final border.
Today I will be bringing Joseph’s Coat with me to quilt group along with the backing and batting and get it sized up right. The wide backing that I have is 116 x 117 inches so it needs to be trimmed down a little and the batting is king size 120 x 120. While I have everything laying on the floor I will get another photo – it is so nice to have big floor space to work on and the church we meet at has the space available to use. Yesterday I used some tiny nails and nailed some kitchen towels up on the top of the wall (wood walls) in the bedroom and then pinned Joseph’s Coat to it so I could get a photo of it and still didn’t get a good one as the quilt was too long! I really want to get a photo of it hanging straight but I’m starting to run out of ideas!
Oh well, I better get busy for my day – my quilt group stuff is ready and packed I even remembered to bring the patterns for my applique to start tracing designs for the red/green border if I finish up trimming what I need for the JC.
Thank you everyone for your compliments on Joseph’s Coat – I do appreciate it and I’m surprised at times at how many of you have been following the progress of the quilt. For those that asked – yes I am leaving it as a scallop edging. The binding I think will be black. Yes scallop edging is more difficult that regular but I have done it before. I put it on dear Jane and did it all by hand and found it much easier to cope with by hand than with machine and it made sense to do it by hand as the whole quilt had been by hand anyhow like this one so I kept with the theme. The quilting will be simple outline stitching on this quilt nothing fancy and it should move fairly quickly I hope. The batting is the “select” loft of quilters dream cotton so it will be my winter quilt – maybe I will have it done by winter?
First off before I get to what I am working on I want to apologize for sending people over to Amy’s Creative Side yesterday for voting on all the quilts that were nominated – she never got it posted! It must have been overwhelming all that work of complying all the nominations into some order! over 600 quilts had been entered into that festival I wonder how many were nominated to the categories she had shown. Maybe it will be ready for voting today – I haven’t seen the new blog post to the nominations this morning? Winners are to be announced on Friday from what her schedule had said.
Head on over to Judy at Patchwork Times and see what everyone else is working on today and most likely throughout the week.
I said I wasn’t going to show any more photos of Joseph’s Coat until I was finished with it – but I will – there is so little left to do and I just don’t have much else to show LOL. I laid that last row down so well for the photo it almost looks like it is already sewed in place – it isn’t. I will sew this row down today and work on the circles - only 7 circles needed for this row – I remember when it seemed like it was over 20 for a row! The rest of the pieces are cut out and ready for me to get started on them. I will be working on little else until this one is done – I’m always like that when I get to an end – I just want to finish.
I did do a little more though than work on JC this weekend – I got some more scraps cut! one day I will be finished (in a year perhaps?) I will try to cut a few scraps every day!
The basket! – barely a dent made in it – yet I have been working every week at it even if only an hour or two a week.
And yes, I even made a little more progress on Pineapple Square this weekend – today I want to finish this row in between working on JC. I have one square left on this row and then the border – someone said they thought I was quilting this very fast – keep in mind these blocks are only six inches! I think the whole wall hanging is only 36 x 36 if I remember right.
When I get done with Joseph’s Coat and Pineapple Square I will be getting out the Red and Green Applique quilt and get busy on the applique border. It has been so long since I worked on that one. Joseph’s Coat will be going on the quilting frame and I will be working on those two projects – but I really want to start another as well and I have a book ordered and it should be coming by the end of the week I think. I will share that when I get it and show it to you then. That will be a hand piecing project that I will be working on off and on for a year most likely in between other projects. I have not forgotten the other quilts I listed a couple weeks ago – “Common Bride” , “Sedona Star” ect. I will get to them too – next year 
that’s the plan anyhow.
What are you working on today and maybe for the week?
Last night I went and woke up at about 1 AM or so and was awake for awhile, I usually do not sew but as I sat there wishing I was sleeping instead I finished sewing the circles on the row of Joseph’s Coat that I was working on yesterday – that is right these rows are getting so short now that yesterday I was able to sew the row on twice! Why twice you might ask – because I wasn’t paying attention and I was almost finished sewing the row on when I noticed I hadn’t started at the top of the row but at the segment second from the top! Image the words coming out of my mouth when I discovered that minutes away from thinking I had the row sewed on in place!!
All was well in the end – I took a break – unpicked stitches – took another break and then sewed it back in place before the end of the day.
Last night before going to bed I worked on the Pineapple Square wall hanging and I have two more blocks quilted, I will do the border part today and give it another crank and move on at some point this weekend – most likely later today as I always seem to find a couple minutes here and there to quilt.
My little tree frog is still living in the fern – I look at it every day and he is sitting in the water reservoir enjoying the cooling water I suppose – he must hunt for bugs off and on at various times of the day and night as whenever I look he is most often right back there in his summer home! Sometimes when I am sitting on the porch all of a sudden I will hear him start to make his loud croaking noises – so much noise coming out of such a small frog. Yes that pot is kind of dirty, but I’m not going to try to wash it now – it might drive him away. 
I will get around to beginning the next row of Joseph’s Coat today – I might mix two of the next colors together for it – I want to try to get all of these colors used but I am beginning to run out of space. I will play with color placement a little I think as I get some pieces cut.
I am off to quilt group this morning in a little bit so I will just show you my Pineapple Square progress right now. I finally decided how to quilt the blocks themselves. I actually started a different way and then picked stitches out on a block and decided this instead.
There are only 16 blocks in this little wall hanging so it won’t take all that long to do! I am bringing Star Crazy and Joseph’s Coat with me this morning to lay out on the big floor. I have the diagonal row almost completed – If we aren’t talking too much I might be able to get it done this morning – we will see – sometimes I get very little done at group. I will take a new photo of what is done so far as it is so hard to do it here at home.
I’ll post the new photo’s this afternoon – I have errands to run after the quilting group is over.
The weatherman from the Little Rock news told us yesterday that we are officially in a drought here in Arkansas – I was thinking – “really I could have told you that a week or more ago!” We are also in a burn ban area – I guess it was a good thing I used the fire pit out on the patio a couple weeks ago because it is looking like I might not be using it much this summer at all. Also heat wave time – in the 90’s – hot and dry – I guess I will be making progress on the quilts I will be where it is nice and cool in the afternoons.
Now that Star Crazy is finished and off of the quilting frame I have the little wall hanging, Pineapple Square on the quilting frame. I must admit to not working on it a lot but I have made progress. I thought this would be a good quilt to work on right now while I finish up Joseph’s Coat because I want to put that one directly on to the quilting frame when I get it finished. If Pineapple Square is not finished that is ok – it can be pin basted easily, taken off the frame and put in a hoop.
It is very hard trying to stick with my rule of only working on two quilts at a time this year in order to finish some things up. In fact I think in the next couple years I should try to add a new rule of going back to hand work only – either piecing or applique - so I can get caught up on my hand quilting! That way I wouldn’t crank out tops quickly and the quilting could get caught up – or maybe not – who can tell! ( I really do not think I will get caught up on the tops – but one can try).
Simple lines for quilting and outline the applique. I need to decide today how I am quilting the blocks now – there are a lot of seams so simple is a must. Also because I want to get done with it quickly it must stay simple.
I did get busy on Joseph’s Coat yesterday on the new row. It is going quickly now that the rows are getting so much shorter – I think I have the row half finished already, I will show it when I get done.
I have so many ideas going through my head for quilts to make – do you all make up a list or just keep it in your head? I have several patterns that I bought or printing out as the patterns become available each month, then I see a photo of something else and think I want to make that too – where does it end!! I can’t keep up with all the ideas!!!
