UFO Challenge: Week Three

Tired of appliqued rose blocks yet? ... I am.

But, good news! Much to the relief of my numb, tingling, aching hands, the last two blocks are done; the Triple Rose...

and the Rose of Sharon.

At this point, there was much celebration (in my mind, at least). I still had two weeks left in the month (and I thought I'd be doing well to just finish the blocks in January). I had already decided on the size and layout of the top during my many hours of applique, so I was ready to get right to work on it. I found the perfect fabrics right here in my stash (gotta love that!). No need to go shopping, so I started cutting and sewing strip sets...

...and cutting those into sashings and cornerstones...

...sewing blocks into rows, and rows into a quilt top...

...and finally adding a border. The border print is one I have kept with my two original blocks for all these years, knowing I wanted to use it in the top eventually. There is a bit of clash between it and the sashing print, but I was determined to use it anyway. I like it. :o)

After more than two weeks of hand stitching, all of this machine sewing went incredibly fast. The top was together in just a couple of days. Yesterday I pieced the backing, sandwiched and pinned the layers. It's ready to quilt!

Just over a week to go... quilting, binding, hanging sleeve...

... I think I can, I think I can...