Writer's Block Drags On

I've got to learn not to name a quilt after a problem another creative field struggles with. In November I had my quilt top complete, went to a weekend workday hosted by my quilt guild and figured out the pieced backing. Sadly I went to lay the quilt out and discovered that my borders had more waves than the ocean. After ripping off the first border and cutting it according to the center measurement of the quilt rather than the edges (who knew quilt edges could lie) I discovered that the problem lay with the first pieced border I'd done. Originally I used my left over jelly roll strips to make an inner scrappy border, but it turns out my blocks are 7.75" rather than the 8" my border counted on. I've ripped off the first border (it's been put in time out and won't be allowed out until it agrees to play nice in a new project) and have decided to use just the solid border. Thankfully the quilt lays flat now and I was able to baste it pretty easily. My living room is a little cramped so I wasn't able to lay the whole quilt perfectly flat for basting, but I got half of it pinned and then rolled it and moved the other half to the wider floor space. 

Things were starting to look good for this quilt being finished before Christmas and my main machine jammed. I do have a second machine, but it doesn't have a cabinet with a nice flat bed and table to support the weight of the quilt. I'm hoping once my husband looks at the machine he'll figure out an easy fix and I can still use my main machine for quilting this thing. I might yet be able to get it under the tree this year.