Midnight Flight & Morning Birds!

Spring is here!

Am I calling it too soon?

I hope not!

The daffodils survived the cold snap last weekend. Today it is supposed to be in the 60’s --- those are all good signs. It’s lighter earlier in the morning. ((This I love!))

But the happiest thing of all….is waking to the chirping of bird chatter in my trees. Winter months are silent ones ---no crickets, peepers, frogs, bird sounds – at least not much. But with warmer temps, the southeast corner of the USA starts revving up the nature sounds much like a symphony in their cacophony of noise during the “warm up” time before the real music starts. It’s going to get noisy out there, folks!

Luckily this morning it was “just” birds…..and then the sounds of Sadie jumping off the bed and wandering over to her doggy door to go explore the bird sounds and the beautiful morning.

Then DH & Son were up getting ready for a day of motorcycle dirt bike riding ---making good use of this beautiful early spring day.

I was the last to rise ---snuggling in with the sheets and quilts up around my chin, hanging on to that last edge of cozy comfort and trying to ignore the bright light streaming in through the filter of the bedroom window curtains -- until it was my turn, too --- to get up and embrace this day.

I needed just that much extra sleep this morning! I was so tired from yesterday's escapades with the seam ripper. :c/

Did you ever have one of those days? Yesterday was THE DAY to get the borders on Midnight Flight. I had planned on a 2” finished inner border….4 patches in the corners carrying on the theme of 4 patches IN the quilt center. My measurements were going to work fine…..only. OH. NO.

My outer border, though it fit to perfection ---would NOT turn the corners right --- because it is an Up/Down/Up/Down kind of unit, and it started as an up, and ended as an up, when I needed it to end as a down! ((You get my drift, I know you do – this is QUILT SPEAK after all, right?!))

OFF came the whole inner border. I needed to adjust it to give me an ODD number of outer border units. That’s all 4 sides of inner border coming off, because I am just not good at trimming down the outer edge of a whole quilt to give me the measurement that I want --- I want to be SURE those strips are the right size ---

AND. The inner border goes back on. So far so good!

I start putting on the pieced border, and all goes swimmingly until ----- UHOH. The last border section I added….to the very last side of the quilt….had units in the wrong order, and it effected the whole thing! OFF CAME THAT BORDER. Boy, I was sure tired of my seam ripper by the end of this day!

This morning I took the top out to my back deck ---quick, hurry --- before the sun gets too bright! Photo ops are short out there when there is no tree shade to block the sunshine. But here she is --- corners turning right, borders that turned out to be just what the quilt needed.

And look:

No WONDER it felt like I was piecing forever! I have all of this left over ---WHAT was I thinking? It’s enough to go around maybe 3 sides of another quilt..LOL! I am SO not making this quilt again ----so ---it’s going to play somewhere on the back until it’s gone!

So many have asked where to find the pattern for Midnight Flight. Currently the block is featured in 100 blocks by 100 designers volume 4 by Quiltmaker Magazine. You can order the magazine HERE. You’ll see the Midnight Flight block there on the cover, upper right hand corner!

There is no pattern available for the full quilt. Not yet anyway! I am teaching this class in Williamsburg, VA for Quiltmaker’s Quilt Along in August! Plans are under way for another Quilt Along in March of 2013 in Portland Oregon, so be watching for more info on that, you Pacific-Northwesters! I’m planning on teaching it there too. After that, it will be reserved for my next-after-the-next book, scheduled for release in 2014. I know it’s a while to wait, but it takes me a while to make enough big quilts to fill a book! ((Another reason it would be so much easier to do placemat sized quilts :c/ ))

I just ask that you be patient with me and know that while I do offer a lot of “free” things here on the blog, that I do need to reserve some stuff for future books ---or there won’t BE future books :c)

Volume 5 of 100 blocks will be out in May --- and I’m really looking forward to that issue as well! I’m sure we’ll be participating in the blog party for that release, so you’ll want to be watching for that to come.

And oh, I’m sad to say ---that I did NOT win the vase full of Hershey’s Kisses at the chiropractor! That’s okay ---I really didn’t need that to wind up on my hips anyway. Thanks for playing along with me!