The Back And Finish

As I was looking for suitable backing material for the Character Quilt Version 2 (what a coool name! Bah), memory flooded back to me... my mother wanted this quilt to be reversible - just like the one she made herself! She seems to have a taste for reversible quilts.

I was inwardly groaning because I remembered quilting the first character quilt, which has a pieced backing, and how I always got stuck on the lumpy seams where they all magically met at once!

But at least I didn't have to search further for backing fabric - all that was already planned since last fall ;)

She wanted extra blocks on the back, but shaped like an H, which is the initial of her friends last name.


So I did some more figuring and a bit of adapting of the original plan and came up with this: 7 theme blocks, three on each side for the H-legs and one in the center of the H-bar, with red fabric between the blocks, 1" black sashing to outline the H and red fabric on the edges. Tadaa, I love having a plan to follow!

After some cutting, re-cutting (remember the seam-allowance!!!), and re-re-cutting (remember to "measure twice, cut once", not "measure without paying attention and cut away"), I put the thing together and I did come out like I had imagined it. I also pressed the seams open on the top and that will hopefully reduce some of the bulk!


I was undecided between simple pebble quilting (oh the time, oh the thread, but oh the nice look), loops or a totally different pattern on the red.


What I ended up with is this: random McTavishing - i.e. I vaguely remembered what it looks like and did a few variations on it all over the red on the front.


Another one ready to go to its new owner - I loved how quickly this quilt came together (it's been done for a while) - that's always a great feeling :)

The other day was just beautiful here, nice warm air with a breeze, so I decided to go to the water front and read a book (I live right near the harbour).


Of course this thing had to come by and add its noise to the serene scene ;) It seems every port city has one of these amphibian vehicles - in Halifax, NS, it's called the Harbour Hopper. Must be the same company, just must! The tourists on it seem to be half-coerced by the over-animated tour guide to wave at EVERYONE! In Halifax they're encouraged to go "Ribbit, ribbit". The vehicle sounds like a war-tank with a constant hum. I'm quite familiar with it, because its route goes right by my place, so I get to listen to it and the yelling tour guide ("To your right you can see THE most amazing building in town, it was built in...) hourly in the summer ;)