Wasted Wednesday?

Today I was so excited to be finishing up my quilt top for the 2012 Barristers Block Sew-A-Long.
After much deliberation I decided to put the blocks on point with no shashing and I am reasonably happy with the result.

Everything went downhill when I decided to add a border though.  I have been holding on to a piece of fabric for 12 months that I was planning to use for the sashings and I thought it would work for the border.  Still everything not too bad but my next decision was to use the left over blocks in the corner of the borders.

Hate is a very strong word that I try not to use so let's just say that I really, really, REALLY dislike the final result.  I was not going to show a picture with the borders on (in case I die from sheer embarrassment) but I need your help so here goes.

I am not sure if it is the border colour or the cormerstones or a combination of the two.  Actually I think it is probably because the corner blocks are square rather than on point?  I really have no idea but whatever it is this does not sit well with me at all.  I am going to take the border off but I was wondering if anybody out there has any suggestion re how I should proceed???

On a positive note I had one finish this week completing my Mug Rugs for the Quilting Gallery 2013 Mug Rug Swap.  This is the first swap of any sort that I have ever participated in and I am so excited to get these in the mail to my designated recipient.

I made 2 extra mug rugs than what was required.  The swap was for the Owl and Winter Bird mug rugs but as we are in the midst of a hot summer here in Melbourne, Australia and the recipient lives in Canada, I decided to do a Summer Bird as well.  I was having so much fun making these and made an extra one just for the fun of it.  I hope the recipient will enjoy them.

Once again I am linking up with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday.

I hope you enjoy a happy and productive week.

Sue

WIP Wednesday

I have not really done a great deal of sewing this last week or two.  I am back at work, one son back at school and sporting activities are in full swing which has left little time for quilting.

I finished all of the blocks for Barristers Block Sew-A-Long and had to decide sashing or no sashing? Let me tell you I agonised over this decision. I found a beautiful fabric that I have been saving for a year to use as the sashing but once l laid the blocks out on the floor with the sashing I was not loving it.  So I removed the sashing fabric and laid the blocks on point. After a day of to-ing and fro-ing I decided I liked this better.

I am 3/4 of the way through putting this together and I wonder if I have made the right decision. It is a bit busy and some of those seams are tricky to line up. With so many seams in some of the blocks the joins are pretty bulky but I am NOT going to pull this apart.  I have declared this a year of NO RIPPING.  Let's just call it another learning experience.

This week I also pulled out a very old WIP, my black & white drunkards path quilt (no name yet). Drunkards Path is my absolute all time favourite block. I love the movement and endless variations you can come up with and I have got so many projects planned based on the block.
In this case I was going for abstract but I am not sure how successful it is as some of the combinations of fabrics are fighting with each other.  This is the current layout I am playing with but I may make a few more blocks and play around a bit more.

No more progress on my Goddess quilt or my bed quilt but they are next on my list.  I hope to get one full day this weekend dedicated to sewing so I expect to have lots to report next week.

I am linking up with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday. Make sure you have a look at the wonderful work by the incredibly talented people out there in blogland.

Sue