Done vs. Perfect

 I seem to get stuck in quagmire sometimes with my quilting because I want things to be perfect instead of done. This quilt is an example. I sewed all the chicks and the top together back in June. Then, I did not quilt it because I wanted to quilt it so it looked like chicken wire as was shown in the Farm Girl Vintage book. I spent some time shopping for a chicken wire template on-line and I did find one, but the shipping was more expensive than the template. Dilemma! Should I even bother? In the end, I decided I just wanted to finish it and not spend any money on an expensive template or bother with hand quilting it.

 I started today off with hand binding it for Slow Sunday Stitching. Check out other handwork projects here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

 The quilting does not even show up that much because of the busy fabrics, so I am pleased with my choice to have a finish instead of perfection.

 A trick I have bee doing lately is to make an extra block for each quilt and turn it into the quilt's label.  I machine appliqued the block onto the backing and quilted right on through it too.

My niece and nephew have birthdays coming next month. They have reached the age where it is difficult to shop for them, so I decided to make birthday cake banners and buy gift cards for them. My sister recommended purple, green, and blue for my niece. Using the free pattern from Lori Holt found here http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/2014/10/who-wants-to-make-cake-for-quilty-funs.html 

and Cynthia's tutorial found here

 http://dreamquiltcreate.blogspot.com/2015/10/quilty-fun-birthday-cake-banner-tutorial.html

I whipped up this banner this afternoon and plan on working on my nephew's this evening. They are so much fun to personalize and easy to make, I think everyone in the family needs one for their birthday in 2016.

I also placed an order this week for some zippers, so I can make some monogrammed pouches for colleagues as Christmas presents. Stay tuned for progress on them soon!