Top and Bottom

Good morning, my friends. Thank goodness for Saturday and no reason to leave home. We ran a bunch of errands yesterday...five stops in all. One of the stops included lunch, so maybe that doesn't count. Still, it took a good part of my sewing day, and so I don't have a lot to show. 

Sadie and I had a discussion about the fabrics I'm using. She likes this polka dot.

But this sunflower print looks so much better with her furs.

When I could convince her to get off the quilt, I was able to sew the polka dot borders to each side.

And then I started adding the outer border. 

It just needs its top and bottom border now, and I'll have a finished quilt top. I should have plenty of time to finish it today. I'm kind of stuck about what to do for the back. I'll use what's left of the polka dot for a binding. I've gone through my stash and tried different ideas, but nothing excites me much. Anything I like, I have in too small a quantity to work. And I could piece something together, but I don't have any good combinations. What's a quilter to do?

Well. I know what I'm going to do. There's a quilt shop south of me called The Cotton Patch. I've been to their shop before, but they moved last year. I haven't yet visited them at their new location. They have a "Backing Day" on the last day of every month. If I bring in my completed quilt top, I can get 25% off a backing fabric. So, I'm thinking I can kill two birds with one stone...not that I would ever kill a bird, but you know what I mean. Also, I've not included The Cotton Patch in any of my Shop Hop quilts. It's probably high time. And if I can't find anything there, I can make my way to a couple of other quilt shops on the way home. Surely, I can find something.

So, I'll finish that up today. My next trick will be to quilt and finish the Phenology piece.

It's a small quilt, and it's all ready to go. I'll quilt it on my domestic machine. Finishing it off would allow me to squeeze in one more finished quilt before the end of the year...a worthy goal. If I finish it, I'll end the year with one less WIP than when I started the year. And that would be something to celebrate.

Also, I want to squeeze in a Bowflex workout today. I haven't been back to the Bowflex since my elbow pain started up a couple of weeks ago. The elbow pain has been gone a long time, but I gave myself time off in the week before Christmas. Time to get back to it. No more excuses. Also on today's agenda is to bake some muffins. I'm still working on some frozen shredded zucchini from last summer's garden. Zucchini...it's the gift that keeps on giving. And in these last days of the year, it makes sense to use the vegetable that starts with the last letter of the alphabet. I'll work on the acorn squash next month. (And, yes, I do have some pureed frozen acorn squash too.)