first finish of 2011

sorry for neglecting the blog, but you've heard my excuses before... work has been busy and the wedding planning has pratically taken over my life. but i have been working hard while i've been away from the blog, and almost a year later, k finally has his zelda quilt!

this quilt really has been a long time coming, but you'll understand if i told you that the whole quilt was about piecing together 1.5 inches squares and strips, right?? i think the finished quilt looks awesome, but i didn't enjoy working with the pattern, at all.

the back was my idea. it's the only thing that deserves to be on the back of a zelda quilt, the tri-force! i thought it was pretty clever of me =P here are some detail shots, please excuse the crookedness, i tried my best to line up everything, but it was still not perfect =(

and here's our hero link himself...

k LOVES his new quilt. he wanted to sleep with it right away but i still need to wash it first. aside of being my first finish of 2011, this was another first of mine. i used a basting spray (june tailor) for the first time. i hadn't planned on it, in fact, i did the basting the good old fashioned way first. i taped down the back, rolled the batting and the front on to the back, and actually pinned EVERYTHING. then i picked it up to check the back, and i could already see puckers EVERYWHERE! as much as i didn't want to, i unpinned everything, and decided that it was time to give basting spray a try. i'm now a convert and will be using basting sprays for all my future large quilts. i know lots of people stay away from basting sprays because of all the chemicals, but realistically, you get the chemicals elsewhere anyways (unless you live in a bubble, literally). plus the quilt will be washed before it'll be used, so no big deal!

k and i are heading out in a minor snow storm this afternoon (see picture of my balcony for proof) because we are going for our cake tasting. he is just overjoyed! he loves cake, and especially the cakes from this particular bakery.

snow storm or not, i don't think he'll want to miss it! have a great weekend!!