Sweet River Studios

I decided to get binding that didn't really stand out. I wanted the focus to be on the quilt so I got a complimentary fabric for the binding. I cut my binding on the bias for this quilt given all the curves. That way the fabric will have a little stretch in it. Everything work out fairly well except for joining the ends. I had a bit of trouble and it got really, really frustrating but I finally got it on. Memo to me - practice binding! I machine stitch my binding on the front and hand stitch it to the back. I don't hand stitch very often so I take this time to brush up on my hand stitching skills and I find it very soothing. So after fighting with the binding a little peaceful sewing is called for. Now, I just need to add a label and call it done.

I finished quilting the bird and background areas, which took me about 4-5 days working in 2 hour shifts. I'm not one of the those people who can sit and quilt for hours on end. My shoulders usually hurt and my brain gets tired and I start to make too many mistakes. So I work in bursts. I quilted a vine/flower motif in the background and then I just quilted a meander filler stitch around those. Now, to find the right binding.