Larkspur

 

The pink barn quilt, LARKSPUR, is finished, and now hangs above my TV. You can read more about it here.  

I made it in the fall of 2019 before the world went to hell. Can’t remember when I brought it to Janet-Lee for quilting, but I didn’t get it back until January 2021. Click that link and you will be brought to various posts when I built the barn, and then details of the terrific quilting.  You’ll also get to see pictures of the barn that inspired it.

The Colorwash quilt in yesterday’s post was made by me. I took Wanda’s online Colorwash class in the fall of 2019.

Binding the Pink Barn - Finally

 

I felt pretty stupid last October when I cut binding for the pink barn quilt from the wrong fabric. But that wasn’t the only thing holding me back from adding the binding to this wall hanging. I knew the binding I usually use would be too big (wide, fat), so I wanted to make it slightly narrower. I had to work out just how to do that and that took some time.

After getting all the holiday stuff put away, getting the house back to “normal” and getting the office all done, I finally had time to get back into the studio. To get any serious work done I need to clean up in there, but I saw the pink barn and thought it would be the easiest thing to finish and get out of the way, so I decided to do that.

So I cut the strips out of the right fabric, joined them, folded and pressed it, and then started sewing it to the quilt. Then I folded it over and pinned it.

Now, sometimes if I get up and take a shower and make the bed, I get caught up in the usual household chores and never make it to the studio. If I just go right into the studio in my nightgown and slippers, I can bypass all that “should” stuff and get right into what it is that makes me feel good. Doing creative things feeds my soul and jumpstarts my creative juices to keep doing creative things. I’ve been out of the studio for too long, so on Saturday, I went into the studio in my nightgown, and started in on the binding. By the time I took the photo above, it was after noon and I still hadn’t gotten dressed.

After I got dressed and ran some errands, I found something to watch mindlessly on TV while I sat on the couch and got started sewing the binding down.

 I’ll keep going and finish this as soon as I can, because I want to hang it above the TV, so I’m pretty motivated.

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Sewing on Sunday

 

This is the hanging sleeve for the pink barn quilt. Or rather, it is in the  process of becoming the hanging sleeve.

Here I have pinned it to the back of the quilt.

Here is the front of the pink barn quilt, Larkspur, in case you forgot.

I think I can hear you all saying, BUT LYNNE.... WHERE IS THE BLUE AND YELLOW???"

Well, see, I was cleaning the house. Specifically I was tidying up in the living room. I have been rather lax lately and there was stuff all over hell.

These are the two chairs at the other end of my living room. You don't often see them because I tend to have them covered with stuff. The plum wing chair is usually where I stack the fabric I have washed, but not ironed. Over the last couple of months it's been the repository of kitchen organizing stuff that hasn't worked, and the pink barn quilt, which is quilted so beautifully I don't want to fold it.

I was cleaning up everything else in the living room and saw the stuff on the wing chair and basically lost it. 

And I am much happier because of it.

And Now to Choose the Binding...

The first question to ask when binding a quilt (I believe) is to decide whether a quilt needs room to breathe or whether it needs to be contained. With Larkspur, (the Pink Barn) it's hard to tell which it needs. What I do know is a light binding wouldn't work at all. 

 

This is the first option, a kind of a greyish green, is kind of blah.

This patterned pink stripe is another option, (but kind of overly fussy.)
 

This big print won't do either, although that is the print that is on the back of the quilt.

I really like this blue. It isn't the same fabric as the blue trim on the barn, but it's close enough.

Blue it is. Or rather, it will be.

 

Holy crap, it's February?