Slow Down, a Finish, and the Bleach Out Story

Well, friends, I have to slow back down. Doctor's orders. All of my maniacal cleaning, sewing and LIVING is keeping my second and final drain in overdrive. And we want it OUT.

So since I am not doing much of anything this weekend except perhaps a movie/tv marathon, here's a look at a January finish (on my Finish A-Long list, hooray!) and the dreaded Bleach Out Story.

First, the finished pillow sham:

Isn't it cute? (Forgive the cell phone photography; remember, I'm not supposed to be doing all the things!) It took some convincing by the Husband that this block was worth saving, but as soon as I put my favorite Loulouthi print on the back it was love. And, I learned a new skill while making this. I succeeded at my first French seams. This sham is as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside. You'' have to trust me on that. Also, this pillow measures 18 inches which I have decided is the magic size for pillows. Goodbye, 16 inch pillow forms.

I made this block shortly after the Bleach Out episode. It all started with three wonky star blocks with fussy-cut raccoons from Tula Pink's Acacia line. The three blocks quickly turned into a bigger effort -- a Pure Joy project. A quilt I worked on for months, here and there, mixing my favorite fabrics and adding borders, making it up as I went along, just for fun. I had a charm pack of Pretty Potent by Anna Maria Horner and one of Acacia by Tula Pink. I loved them together. Oh, the color! Looking at it on my wall inspired me to finish up my other projects. This is the only photo I have of it showing all nine star blocks in their full color glory:

And then one day the quilt was finished. Here is a look at some of the quilting in process:

 The backing was a clearance super find at JoAnn's: a navy floral with mint and gold and orange and yellow and purple! I bound it off with bright pink. And I threw it in the wash. 

You know what happens next, right? I couldn't find my trusty terry cloth color catcher so I threw in the Rit color REMOVER without reading the package. And when the wash was done, I had this:

All of the color gone. The ivory turned mint. The pink turned taupe. A nice color scheme for a baby quilt, but this was MY quilt. Besides, the color splotches in a few places made in unsuitable for a gift.

There is a happy ending. Pilar, my number one girly, loves this quilt. It is now her special quilt, and she curls up on it while I work. Aww. Photo of that forthcoming.

And now, back to the boob tube. (Get it? Ha!)