Gossip Girl - Season Finale

Gossip Girl here....
Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of the Let's Bee Social elite.

For the past couple of weeks, during the Let's Bee Social, I have been sharing updates on my progress on my one and only UFO, which I found while making the transition to my new blue sewing studio. And today I am sharing the finish!

I found some leftover pieces of polyester batting and zig-zagged those together to make a piece large enough for this quilt. The first quilt I ever made, for my daughter Erin and the quilt I made for my son, Russell both contained a polyester batting. Guess I was trying to clean up all the loose ends I possibly could with this finish.

For the backing and binding I used this Tula Pink Astraea in Tart from the Elizabeth collection  for Free Spirit Fabrics. This is the same print I used to back my On Point quilt.

What went wrong along the way? The fact that my heart wasn't really in it may have been the reason why I ran into so many little problems as I progressed from step to step, First up, my white background triangles that I had cut to add some negative space to the layout of these as asterisk blocks... Well, they were slightly larger and made matching up the points rather difficult. And the central area of the quilt top looks a little poofy in places.

I was determined to keep going and wanted to add all those off cuts to make an improv style border. So I pieced the off cuts into strips and laid them out along the sides of that central triangular pieced element. Then I decided I really wanted this to finish a little longer.

And this decision resulted in my second problem. To add to the length, instead of simply adding the extra strip to the top and bottom of the triangle element, I sewed an extra strip between the two pieces of improv border strips. Um.... Duh! Now my border strips are of an uneven width.

The solution would have been to forgo the idea of using a mitered border. But then I would have had to add length to those side borders and made butted corners. However, by this time I was loosing steam. Loosing patience. And just wanted to get her done!

HEY! I'm no quitter....

I'm a QUILTER!

"Gossip Girl" finished at approximately 58" x 74"
and was the 56th use of my 100 labels

ordered from Ikaprint.

In retrospect....

Yes, I did want to use up these scraps and already had the strips cut.

But I did not realize how much Kona Snow I would end up using in the process.

It's hard to keep going on a project when your heart really isn't into it. And there were a few times I thought of how easy it would have been to toss this thing out or offer it away. But I did not give up. And as I went along, I decided this quilt would look good finished and laid out on my bed. Much better than that hand me down comforter. I decided this one would be a quilt for me.

This quilt is Bumpy and Lumpy.

A bit like me.

And when it came to the borders, it was not planned out whatsoever. Just so you know.... A walking foot is recommended for mitering borders with a mish mash of multiple seams. And mitered borders really should be of the same width for best results. As you can see... I was loosing my mind while working on this quilt. So much so that when I calculated how much binding I would need.... I divided the circumference by 20 instead of 40 to figure out how many strips I needed. But I got 'er done!

And have some lovely binding ready for another project some day!

It wasn't all hardship though. It was a joy to reminisce about the hours I spent with my daughter while we watched the Gossip Girl series on DVD together last year. It was a great time spent bonding. Just the two of us. And I can't wait for the new series of shows coming up this month.... Blood and Oil starring "Nate Archibald" and Wicked City starring "Chuck Bass".

Bye, bye Gossip Girl. Hello Blood and Oil & Wicked City!

Linking up to Finish it up Friday with 

Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

Have you entered my giveaway? You could win this luscious fat quarter bundle of Fusion Illusion and a copy of my Teddy Bears pattern.

Click here to enter now!

By the way....
I been seeing lots of progress posts for the Dog Gone Cute quilt along blog hop. It's so exciting to see everyone's blocks! Don't be shy! I appreciate that everyone is eager to share their progress and it's wonderful that you are posting about the quilt along. The more the merrier!

Are you Dog Gone quilting along?

Keep On Quilting On!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”