Home on the Range

Mother's Day gifts are DONE!!!

This project (and the two practice pieces) taught me I can indeed successfully build a 60-degree diamond project without a template, and it also taught me how to properly machine-stitch Y-seams. My Y-seams on the first project were sad and frustrating. The Y-seams on the second project are not frowning. The Y-seams on the actual kit I bought at the beginning of this year are smiling! And that makes ME smile!!!

This project is (much) bigger than the kit I bought earlier this year was supposed to be, and I ended up having to buy three more yards of fabric in order to finish the background, backing and binding. (I didn't need a full yard of each, but I wanted leftovers.) I was able to make the diamonds with the fabric provided in the kit, even though my strips are nearly double the size the pattern called for. I was almost an inch short on one strip, but I was able to salvage the tiny triangles I whacked off at the top of each six-piece strip to finish that last diamond.

The Shabby Fabrics pattern called for (2) 1.5-inch strips to make the diamonds. I misread that for my first practice table topper and used previously self-cut 2.5 inch strip leftovers for a table topper for my mom for Mother's Day. I cut 1.5-inch strips from my snowflake stash for my second practice piece, which I love so much, I may end up keeping for myself. I decided to make the actual kit in the larger size in order to show off the adorable western prints in the Home on the Range collection. Even though the final project turned out much bigger than it should have, I think my mother-in-law might love it. We will be taking it to her in person next month during some much-needed rest and relaxation/rehabilitation.

I changed up the color order as shown on the pattern because I wanted to alternate the boots, plus, I thought making the teal strips the centerpiece would really make the coordinating binding pop. Plus, my mother-in-law's favorite color is teal.

I also unintentionally put the horseshoes on upside-down in relation to the pattern, probably because I have a snowflake-themed brain. The upside-down placement looks somewhat like snowflake points to me. Ha ha!

I quilted and appliquéd with King Tut Cedars, the first time I've ever used the colorway. It's been in my stash for quite a while, and I think it looks pretty darned coordinated, considering I haven't shopped for thread at all for more than two years except when I ran out of YLI Alaskan Skies while finishing up my Lizard Toes.

All three projects are quilted in the ditch because that's what the pattern recommended. I enjoyed this pattern so much, I might make another one, perhaps rainbow colors, to audition a different quilting design.

I waited until all three pieces were done to throw them in the wash. The background fabric on my mother-in-law's table topper unraveled from beneath the binding on one side, and all six horseshoes needed to be appliquéd on again as they, too, had frayed. I did a wider zigzag on the appliqués this time around and frogged the binding on that one edge and redid it. Resulting in 26 more ends to weave in!!! But all should hold firm now. And I'd rather have them grow fuzzy on me than the first time my mother-in-law washes it. Lizard suggested we wash that one again, just to make sure. This time, it held up beautifully. I think it will last a good, long time.

Linking up with Alycia Quilts.

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