Podunk Posy and Watermelon Jelly

I'm so happy to finally have the Podunk Posy quilt quilted and bound.  As many of you already know I love designing and  making quilt tops but quilting them usually takes me awhile.  I went back through my blog posts to see when I put it on the frame.  Sadly it was put on the frame in December before moms long bought of hospital stays.   I've some excuses this time for my procrastinating even though I've had plenty of time to get it done.  

 Before moving on with this post I'd like to let the newcomers to my blog know the "Podunk Posy" is a free quilt pattern on my blog.  You can find it the Tutorials tab at the top of my blog.

 If I had to pick a favorite part of quilting I'd pick the binding.   Normally I machine stitch it to the front then hand sew it to the back.  On this one I chose to the quicker route by 100% machine attached binding.

The quilting really didn't take that long, most of it is free motion.  The scallops around the tulips were made using a ruler, and of course there's a little stitch in the ditch on the stems just so I could travel to the next area for free motion work.

They say the trick to a successful quilting design is repetitive shapes throughout the quilt.  So I  mimicked the scallops and meandering in the inner border.  

Is it a success?  I'm saying it is, because its complete and I still love this super simple quilt.  Isn't it funny how some of our most loved quilts are the simple squares.

In the quilt blog world a quilt isn't complete until you successfully photograph your new lovely.  To be honest the photography is more difficult than the entire quilting process.  Lighting, props and then you have the chickens who want to be a part of the action.  These chickens follow me everywhere because they know I'm the one who feeds them.  I hadn't planned on using them in my photo shoot but it turned out for the best.  

Until they started fighting.  The black chicken below is Beulah the bully.  She rules the roost.  If she doesn't settle down I see a frying pan in her future.  With all the ruckus I managed to get a good picture of the pieced backing.  To tell you the truth I love the back just as much as the front.   This is my new favorite way of backing a quilt and here's why.  I quilt on a frame which means my backing needs to be almost perfectly square.  Getting a large piece of fabric perfectly square isn't easy.  I can't tell you how many times I've loaded a quilt back to the frame thinking it was perfect only find it was NOT.  Loading a quilt backing to a frame by pinning it on like I do can take about 20 to 30 minutes.  So since I'm horrible at squaring up large pieces of fabric but pretty darn good(if i do say so myself) at cutting and piecing quilts... why not just have a nice large scrappy squares backing....problem solved!  

With all the clucking about backings I almost forgot my other little finish.  

"Watermelon Jelly"

MMM...yummy!  Have you ever had Watermelon Jelly?  Oh my... it's ridiculously delicious.  My mom made it when I was a little girl.  I've asked her for the recipe but we can't find it in her thousands of recipes.  She said one of her older customers gave her the recipe years ago.  I'm sure a similar recipe  can be found by doing a google search.  Anyway this little table topper or wall hanging was made using the leftover clip corners from my "First Kiss" quilt(another freebie pattern).  The gingham is from my vintage stash and works perfectly with the Pam Kitty fabrics.   I was shocked when Pam left a message saying she loved the gingham and would like  to know what line of fabric it came from.  The older fabrics don't have names on the selvages so I've no clue.  I can only guess it's age.  And my guess by fabric quality would be about 20 or 30 yrs old. 

 I'll be posting one of my quicky tutorials for this little cutie later in the week.  No actual piecing instructions but measurements for cutting making one yourself.

Here's a couple more pictures because I took about 30 from two different cameras.  Getting the perfect shot in the perfect lighting is difficult.

I've come to the conclusion outside pictures are great for props.  You can go on little adventures trying to find new and interesting spots for your quilts.  But there's nothing better than a well lit room in your house.  With outside pictures your at the mercy of mother nature in so many ways.  

Happy Stitching!

~ Lea Anne ~