wip and a happy little helper elf

thanksgiving weekend i pulled "taite" back out. i spent hours pressing all those darn seams on the back because they'd gone haywire since the last time i worked on it. i think i hate pressing seams open. it seemed such a good idea when reading elizabeth hartman, but this was not the project to try it on - way too may small seams going on. i felt like i wasted so much time doing that pressing, but it was a necessary build up to finally getting my border on.

the border had me worried because i wanted to do one long cut - over 60". guess what? i did it! and it worked. no elbows or nothin'. i was very proud of myself and grateful, too. then i went and sewed the wrong sides together on my first strip and had to spend a whole lot more time unpicking it, time i could have been sewing the other strips on.

and so it goes. i definitely saw surprising improvement in my cutting skills, but i am no expert yet. still making mistakes constantly. sometimes i wonder when it will come naturally, if ever.

after most of a saturday, i finally had that darn border on and my top is complete.
now to piece the back.

i spent most of this past saturday figuring out my back, cutting the main piece, and putting together all the little leftover squares from the front to work into the back. about 1/3 done as of now.

this is what my dining room has looked like most of the month because i am not picking that top up again until i have it sandwiched and basted. i've blocked it off with chairs and it has worked pretty well except for when the dog runs in the house, some cousins want to look at the candy houses, and when my happy little helper elf decides to examine my work:

she just wanted to be by her mama since everyone else was gone. i loved the unexpected hugs on my back as i worked, but not the quilt trespassing and her interest in my cutting or the mini pieces everywhere. life with baby!

other wips to report: the baby quilt has the raw binding sewn on, it just needs to be turned and blind stitched down. hallelujah! almost there.