Time Enough for Quilting

I began piecing this quilt top last October when I attended a quilt retreat with my mother. My hope going into that retreat was to quickly finish my first quilt, and then start on this one Friday night and be done with it by Sunday. Knowing that I had very little time to give to quilting during my regular life, I figured I should pick a quilt design that I could finish in a weekend.

The problems began when I realized on Friday night that I would not finish the first quilt. In fact it would be late afternoon Saturday before I could put that one away and pick up the pieces to this one. I did succeed in picking a fairly easy quilt to finish in a weekend. The trouble was I just didn't have much of the weekend left! So, this quilt came home partially finished - as in, not even close to being put together - and stayed that way until today. It seems I just haven't had time for quilting since I came home from last fall's retreat. Since the next one is coming up in just a few weeks I knew I just had to get something done. So here it is.

But where's the first quilt? Well, I left it in PA to be machine quilted (the best invention for people like me who love to piece quilts but don't much care for the quilting part!), and got it back just before Christmas. All it needed was a few stitches here and there, and then to be bound. Well, I misplaced my binding fabric (either that or I never had enough in the first place!) After spending hours looking online for more of my favorite fabric, I chanced the local quilt store where I found 2 half yard pieces of the exact fabric that I needed. That's all I needed and that's all they had! So here it is...still waiting to be bound, but being used just the same:


Reason 40,865 why Gracie's my favorite dog. Doesn't she look like she's just daring me to shoo her off that quilt? That's the back btw - and the reason I picked all the front fabrics!