WIP Wednesday #35

Lots to report this week, which is kind of surprising because we had grandparents in town this weekend, which meant not much sewing took place then. Sometimes those finished projects just sneak in, I guess. (Also, sorry for the basement-lighted photos in the first section. I totally forgot to take the pics earlier.)

In progress:
On Saturday, I went to my first sew-in with the St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild and had a wonderful time. The day started with a great machine-quilting class led by a fellow guild member, and I finally tried my hand at a little free-motion quilting. After getting over the mental block of needing to move the needle fast while moving the fabric slowly, I did pretty good. I discovered loops are definitely my specialty. (I know white thread on white fabric isn't the easiest to see. Oops.)

 

Even better, I also had time to work on my Early Bird/Kitchen Window quilt and finished the last four blocks for the top!

I started this quilt back in my early sewing days, which meant that the first blocks especially were not sewn very accurately. Thus, everything turned out to be slightly off, especially after I trimmed everything down, which I also did on Saturday. So, my next task is to figure out how to work with these slightly smaller blocks. I think I'll just have to do a little math and make the sashing a bit bigger on each.

Which leads to the next problem: I also have to decide on what to use for the sashing. Two years ago, when I started this quilt (which has been put on the backburner so many times since then), I chose the green Kona solid in the pic above to pull out the green in the fabrics, but now that I see it all together, I'm really not convinced. I'm thinking I have two options: go with something bolder, like a darkish teal perhaps, or stick with a light neutral or linen.

This pic gives you a better idea of the colors in the quilt. They're much cheerier than the basement photos make them appear. The sashing around the windows is a chocolate brown.

So, any thoughts? I'm so stuck and could really use some ideas.

Completed:
At home, I finished up a number of projects, too.
Two more pillows and coasters for the downstairs guest area

Name tag for the quilt guild meetings

On the "to do" list:

New pillows for the downstairs chairs
Table runner
iPod workout strap
A mug rug for me T-shirt quilt
Picnic quilt
Ironing board cover 
Re-cover downstairs chair
Divided basket from the Noodlehead pattern!
Small diaper bag
Nursery quilt 

Be sure to check out the other great WIPs over at Freshly Pieced!