Purple Mountains...

is now complete!  I put the final stitches in it around 11 pm last night.  (I had a midnight dealine, so I just made it.)

Purple Mountains

 I entered this quilt as my project for a UFO challenge.  Each month you can enter a new UFO (unfinished object) and you have one month to finish it.  You have to send pictures of the completed project by midnight of the deadline to be eligible for a prize.  Although finishing another project is enough of an incentive!

 I really didn't think I was going to make it, but after some long hours yesterday, I managed to finish.  And guess what...  It turns out I won the drawing!  Woohoo!!!

 The pattern for this quilt is "Sew What Quilt Mystery" by Debbie Caffrey.  I just made mine in a smaller size.  It finishes at 44" square.

 I quilted various fans in most of the light purple background and echo quilted around each star.  I was a little uncertain what to do in the outer border, but my friend, Susan, suggested some straight line stitching.  I took her suggestion and think it works well here.

 Again for this quilt I used YLI 100 wt silk thread in purple and red for the top and Aurifil thread in the bobbin.  Although I matched the bobbin thread to the backing, I think next time I would choose a contrasting thread.  I like all the quilting on the back and it would be great if it showed more.

 There were places on the quilt (where I did the large fans) that I kept coming to the same point as many as 20 times.  With the 100 wt silk thread, I had no problem with thread nests or buildup.

I don't know if you can see in the picture above, but there's a very slight waviness to the edges.  The quilt top was perfectly flat when I basted it, but I think the edges got stretched some during quilting.  So I'll block this quilt as soon as I have time.  Once it's dry, it should be fine.  And then I think I'll hang it in my entryway so I see it whenever I come home...

And I wanted to share a new tip I learned from The Quilt Show.  I bought a piece of plexiglass 28" x 30" from Lowe's.  I taped the edges with painter's tape and use it as a sounding board for my quilting designs.  Just lay it on top of your quilt and draw your designs with either a dry-erase marker or vis-a-vis marker.

Plexiglass sheet and possible quilting designs

Just don't forget to tape your edges because you don't want to accidentally draw off the edge and onto your quilt!  I also used a disappearing marking pen for the first time (but not the last).

Disappearing Ink Pen / Water Soluble Ink Pen

You just draw your design on your quilt and quilt over it.  The ink will disappear over time (less than a day).  The other end of the pen is the water soluble side.  It will stay on your quilt until you wet it.  Of course, if you iron over the blue side, it's there to stay!

I took this picture of my parents, nephew and Gabriel when they came up to celebrate my birthday.  Gabriel usually feels the need to be the center of attention...

Dad, Gabriel, Robbie and Mom

Until later...

"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law [the Word]" 

Psalm 119:18