….well….nearly! I still have to hand sew down the back of the binding (mulled over doing it by machine, but want top notch work, so will hand sew), sew on the sleeve, and make and add the label. Will also need to quilt the critters I added at the last moment, but that will be fairly easy!
YEAH! So here it is:

As you can see, I decided on the wavy inner border, and had thought of using facings. BUT, I also tried something just to see …when I sewed on the facings (straight grain) instead of turning them to the back I wrapped them, and liked the combination of both binding and inner border, except for the dark brown in the center bottom. So, I un-sewed the center and spliced in some of the mottled batik I think of as “lichen on rocks.” Now it looks better.

Here’s a close-up of the finished boy and dragon

–today I beefed up the “fringes” –that aqua eyebrow thingy made with Madeira Jewel FX (black core) thread… in this case a teal/black metallic thread.

I really like how the clouds turned out. Thanks to Dubiquilts and Betty and the Frayed Edges and everyone who commented for their suggestions…the quilt is better because of you! I kept the fire after all, and added clouds (except in thread, and now have a new technique with the clouds that I love…look at the tree pics below) and added critters that give you a little extra treat for coming up and looking closely.

and here’s one of the foxes and a better picture of the clouds….

Caroline asked a question about how I did the trees, so I’ll post that reply tomorrow! Now, for some sofa R&R! Nope..hang on…change that. Tomorrow I’ll upload the story on which I based this quilt…it is a story I wrote for my oldest son when we were getting ready for a cross-country move. Then I’ll post the answers to Caroline’s question on Wednesday. OK?

Today was better. Got the remaining rocks, shrubs and all the trees quilted. Betty, one of the local quilters here (in / near Camden), has a wonderful artistic eye, and she suggested I might add a mythical critter in the foreground if there was one in the story. Well, didn’t have any of those either in the story or in my fabric stash (or time to make one), but I DID have a print with some foxes and a bunny and squirrel that were close to the correct scale. And since the story is set where we used to live, with birds and foxes and bunnies running amok, I added two fox, two small birds, a bunny, a cat and a squirrel (none of the latter on the island, but I liked him anyway!).

The critters will get quilted later…now I’m trying to decide which way to border the quilt. Of course, by the time you read this it will be done, but here’s the three alternatives. Stay tuned to see what I decide between the time I write this and the time I upload it for viewing. The first option is, esentially, nothing…just add a facing to clean finish the edges:

The second option is an inner border (here pinned, but would be fused and stitched):

The third option is binding. Instead of cut more strips I just moved the wobbly inner border bits to the edge. In the photo this option looks pretty good, but in real life it looks wimpy.

The only quilting left besides the critters is the sky, I know what I want to do, and it will be easy…just need a couple hours in the morning. BUT, then I must do the facings or whatever for the edges, and decide about the inner border.

Almost there! Will have some “hidden” finishing up to do this coming week (sew down the facing, add the hanging sleeve and label), but by golly, I’m almost there!

PS–Sunday evening addendum: I’ve done it! Well, not the hand work and such, but pretty much done! Will have pics tomorrow…YEAH! Now I can have a life again!!!!

Can you say BORING? Today I quilted the rocks and cave entrance on the right,

the grasses (golden fabric with gray grass, a batik), and the ground (the creamy scroll).

Oh, and the backpack, mandolin and jug.

From a distance, you can’t tell I’ve done a thing despite a long day at the machine. Oh well.

Tomorrow, the shrubs and rocks in the two bottom corners, the trees and (saving as a treat) the sky, since I’ve decided to quilt in clouds and am looking forward to that. Then, the inner border, facing, hanging sleeve and label. Suuuurrrrrrrre! By Sunday. Yeah…um……

Woohoo….today I finished the top… thanks to Dubiquilts’ comment, decided to leave the fire, but also included a jug, backpack and mandolin (from the story). Then, I added the backing and (drum roll please, began quilting!). The photo above is before quilting began. I set the quilt on the machine cabinet, and of course when I returned Thumper was asleep right in the middle!

I guess that means it has the cat-seal-of-approval…..

Today I got the hardest things done: the boy,

and the dragon,

Here’s a close-up of his face:

I was going to do small circles on the face and legs, like on a lizard, but decided just some contour lines was better.

The fire, flames only, was easy. Tomorrow I’ll start with the mandolin, backpack and jug, and then it will be fast going for the trees, rocks, cave entrance, shrubs, earth, sky etc….I think I might actually get this done before midnight Sunday! Better remember to remove the chalk dust from marking the scales and contour lines though…I can still see some blue dust in this last photo. The eyes, by the way, are angelina, outlined with thread.

Had a meeting today in Augusta (about 45 miles almost due West of here…Camden) for the Workshop Committe of the Pine Tree Quilt Guild‘s Maine Quilts 2008 show. We got to select the teachers, and though I can’t say who we picked, I’m REALLY psyched! That took the morning–even though the meeting finished early (a miracle!), I went over to Barnes and Noble. Ahem. More on that in a bit.

When I got home, I worked some more and have the top almost done. In this picture, I am auditioning some greens for a fused “inner border” that will go around the edges (will probably be a wavering line, not totally straight).

Today I:

–modified the wing’s right edge to where I like it better
–added branches and boughs to the trees
–finished the boy (re did the face and hair, moved the feet)
–added the Dragon’s umm…what do you call them? Scales? No…the ridge / crest things….
–added the Dragon’s horns
–added a clump of grass or two and the second tree next to the cave
–put up those cloud things, and don’t like them (they are pinned and will disappear)

I still need to: figure out what to put in the foreground. It was going to be a fire, but since I lightened the sky from night to day, I have decided I don’t think the fire to keep them warm (especially with the boy in short sleeves) works. So I checked the story I wrote for Joshua eons ago, and will add some of what he took on his journey: a magical water jug, a picnic basket (both of which refill themselves), a mandolin (now he’s a guitar player…did I have ESP or something?), and a blue backpack. Then, baste and start quilting!!!

Any suggestions? Do write and tell me what you think!

And back to Barnes and Noble…. I indulged in The Decoraged Page by Gwen Diehn. Talk about eye candy, and 30 percent off. It is about journaling, and very creative journaling at that. Some of the techniques will translate to cloth, others can be modified, and the design stuff applies no matter what medium you use. I can see borrowing from the “layout” options (full-page designs, grids, madalas, columns, diagonals, organic shapes, cut-outs and add-ons) for a series of quilts…. Hannah and Kathy: do either one of you have this book? The title seemed familiar, but the contents seemed new. I know both of you have awesome journaling books on your shelves… now I can share this one!

That’s it folks! Tune in tomorrow for another update.

PS—thanks for all the helpful comments. Sequoia…I loved your ideas, but by the time I got them had already made the fire, but now I’ll just call it the morning campfire! Thanks!