Knockin 'em down!

I feel like this whole finish-a-long thing might be really good for my sew-jo.  I've already finished one of my goals -- and it's only been a week!  All it took was the previous posting of a seriously aged WIP (as in - it may have been old enough to get married and have quilt babies).   So I dug out a couple of almost finished quilt tops and then knowing they were sitting there, and knowing I was now obligated to get them done, finally lit a fire under my ass.  

This quilt was something I had intended for a friend pretty early on in my quilting journey.  Unfortunately, I got...well...a little distracted by everything else available out there in the quiltiverse and so I never quite finished it.  A little motivation though, and it seemed to take care of itself.

I got up early the morning after my initial post to sew together some franken-batting so I could baste it.  I had it all properly basted before lunch.

Dog fabric!!!  Loves it! I bought this fabric the first time I went to the Creativ Festival -- which is this weekend coming up!  It was a Moda fabric by Basic Grey if I remember correctly.

It was a mission, but I buckled down after lunch that same day and got the thing quilted.  Its not a huge quilt - but its no baby quilt either!  Only binding to go!

In for a workout -- even looking at this picture makes me want a massage!

I spent Sunday evening hand-sewing the binding and got about halfway done.  One more session on Friday night and it was finished and ready for its crinkling up in the washer and dryer!

And this was Saturday morning!  All done!

This is not necessarily the quilt I would begin now -- there's not as much negative space as I find myself liking -- but its still cute.  And given the recipient's affinity for dark colours and leather, I think it will suit her space.   And the border?  The plain fact that there is a border at all?!?  Yikes!

I quilted basic dog commands and the name of my friend's new puppy into the border.  Since there was a border, I felt it needed some detail.

The back is a wonderfully soft, pre-washed flannel.  Its mostly dark brown to play off the front but who can resist a little contrast!

A little close-up of the stipple that was used in the main part of the quilt.  A little hard to see, but you get the drift.

 So I'm calling this quilt "Puppy Love" and giving it to one of my closest friends.  Her name is Sydney (she's the one I make competition suits for -- a.k.a. blinged up bikinis) and she has a SUPER cute new golden retriever puppy named Henry.  Well, he's not SO little any more -- he's now a 38 pound 4-month-old.

And there she is!  All ready for gifting this afternoon.

I couldn't resist a little of my puppy love next to Sydney's new "Puppy Love"

So that's one of my three goals achieved!  Yay!  And I still have two and a half months to go!  Woohoo!