LSU is done!

Not literally, of course.  I'm talking about the LSU quilt that has kept me busy for the last few days.   While Richard watched LSU play Auburn, I finished up the purple and gold quilt.  I stepped into the house a few times, and it seems that there were as many shots of the orange Auburn stands as there were of the field.  I'd make some comment about the number of fans, then head back to the studio.  

The game is down to about three minutes left, LSU is up by 2 points, the stands are wild, and the quilt is done!  Yay for me!  In case you didn't watch the game, LSU wins the game by those two points.

I imagine that SKA will be thrilled with her quilt, but that's because I think it came out pretty great.  I had fun figuring out how to quilt all those tiger faces.  Turns out they aren't that difficult.

Of course the large open spaces were easy stippling.  And going around the LSU logo is also easy, although it does take a steady hand.  

There are a few not-so-easy Arkansas razorbacks, though, that required me to stop and figure out the best approach.  They make for a fun shirt but a slow quilting stitch.  That Mississippi State bulldog was also a bit of a challenge.  

The screen print coating on the shirts also tends to burn off the outer coating of the thread, which weakens it, so breakage is a serious problem.  I wanted to use the cotton thread, though, so I guess I rethreaded my needle, oh, 100 times.  That's not much of an exaggeration, either.  In the end, all is good.  

I didn't know what size the customer wanted, so I decided to use all 20 shirts and because they are large in size, I was able to cut them into 15 x 17 inch blocks.  Adding the two inch sashings and the quilt is a nice 68 X 98 and will fit a full size bed.

Happy quilting,

Mary