top finished: Picture Frames

In my blog reading, I came across a layout that looked really interesting: "Picture Frames", a freely downloadable PDF from Little Miss Shabby blog.   I made my version slightly larger than the PDF describes, by adding a additional rows & columns.  Remember that little fact because it came back to bite me.

 

I like the graphic aspect of this layout.  It's designed for layer cake pre-cuts but honestly, you could use any size square you wanted; you'd just need to adjust the framing strips.  As I went through my flannel stash, I realized that with the leftover remnants that I wanted to use, I wouldn't be able to get an 8" square, which is the focus fabric.  *I* could only get a 5" square ... so I downsized the block but increased the number of rows and columns.

 

I also realized that if I used flannel for the whole thing, that would result in just a whole lotta seams and intersections, which would make the resultant top not only heavy but *bulky*.  Not what I wanted as a final product.  So, I opted to use the flannel *only* as the focus 5" square and quilting cotton as the framing strips.

 

I'm merrily cutting my squares and strips; sewing them all together; assembling the blocks into rows and sewing the rows together.  It's looking pretty good.

 

But wait.  What's this?  The green Moda Marbles I'm using for one of the framing strips looks to be running a bit short.  Well, remember that my squares were smaller than the PDF required so I needed to make more of them?  Just bite me cuz I ran out of the green.  ::head thunk::  Fortunately, it *is* a Moda Marble but as my particular stash chunk is ::ahem:: "vintage", I knew there would be no chance of getting the same dye lot.  The best I could hope for was to get an olive green in the same general color family.

 

I was able to find an olive green Marbles online but ya know .. you just can't color match on monitors.  But .. ::shrug::  it really didn't matter, since I didn't have a choice.  I ordered an additional yard of the olive green; it will arrive here "soon".

 

In order to make this faux pas slightly more palatable,the new, additional olive green (whatever shade it turns out to be) will be in the middle rows .. so it (hopefully) looks kinda/sorta planned.  eh .. whatever.

Eventually, the additional Moda Marbles arrived and .... ::sigh::  my original green apparently is NOT "olive" green but some other shade.  The olive green that arrived is slightly lighter than what is already in the quilt.   Well ... it is what it is.

This top is approximately 64" x 64".

This morning, I finally sewed on the last narrow border strips, pressed it firmly and got the picture taken.   Not a very good picture, though.   The distance from my "design wall" to the opposite side of the room is approximately 6.5 feet ... not a whole lot of room to back up for a picture.  If the top is over a certain size .. and Picture Frames is skirting that size ... I can't back up FAR enough to get a decent picture.  So ... this is what you get at this point. :-)

I think I've procrastinated as long as I decently can over returning to the quilt that's loaded onto my longarm.  That quilt needs to get finished so I can, at least, quilt the fundraiser quilt that I promised.  :-)