The Big Week That Wasn't!

It's been forever since I've had cause to say TGIF! So I'll say it again, Thank God it's Friday! Schools here are closed due to icy roads and an impending snowstorm so the rest of my family is happy too. Our son had a better day yesterday and was up and about, still not much of an appetite and moderate abdominal pain but looks like himself again which makes Mom feel much better.

My UFO Finish for week #2 is Minnesota Ladyslipper. 18 down, 76 to go on my UFO Countdown! This is another oldie started in 2002 when I found the ladyslipper print at an area quilt shop. It was part of Northcott's State Flower collection if any of you remember it. The pattern is "Road to Ireland" from the book "Fat Quarter Quilts" by M'Liss Rae Hawley.  It is also my January finish for A Lovely Year of Finishes!

Thanks to everyone who offered input on the binding in this post. I really like the frame effect the dark green creates.

My beginning quilting teacher's best advice was to pick a border fabric you love and work from there. As a newbie, I took that advice VERY literally in this case. And, I did technically use what I learned about value but very sparingly. A jolt of dark in the frame/binding and light white but heavy on the medium mush in the rest of the blocks. 3 Moda marbles and 3 bland prints do not create an exciting block! It's a pretty quilt but not a very eye catching one, to me anyway.

I had quilted it (which is kind of shocking in and of itself!) and then left it rolled up in my closet for 10+ years waiting for binding. How silly is that? It was quilted with mono thread which was my safe place and I love the pattern I used in the body of the quilt. Once I give it a wash it will crinkle up nicely.

I'm trying larger pictures today... please let me know what you think of them!  I spent some of my waiting/worrying time earlier in the week changing my blog layout a bit. I've been collecting tips & tricks about jazzing up my layout and creating a new header but haven't had time to work it all out so I thought this would be nice in the interim.  

I like the new colors and think the new font is much cleaner to read than my old one, but I'd love feedback on that too~. I'm linking up to Link A Finish Friday, Finish it up Friday, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and TGIFF.