quilt progress

It is coming along. I'm still nervous about the recipients' decision to not actually buy a comforter, since they are confident in my abilities to complete this thing by the time it's cold enough in Maine to require a quilt. But I'm moving along as fast as I can today. The top is completed (and I'm pretty proud of myself).

A few notes about the pattern that I've come up with so far, just in case any of you are considering this quilt. This pattern is NOT for a queen sized quilt. The size is not specified at all in the pattern, and I totally should have figured that math out before I started making it. So, since I followed the directions as they were, only then to find out that it was not big enough for a queen sized bed, I'll tell you what I did. I just added panels around the edges (I think this is often called sashing, in quilting language? Am I right? I'm calling them panels) that were 10" wide each, adding 20" in length and 20" in width to the entire piece. This worked fine, and was honestly the easiest solution. Despite the fact that every single fabric store in the metro area appeared to be sold out of Kona Cotton in Chocolate (the background fabric, and what I had wanted to use for the panels), so I used Espresso (which was actually what I initially wanted to use for the background fabric, but they were sold out of that one before). I'm hoping nobody cares. I don't.

The other option for adapting this one, if you're planning ahead, is to just add more strips to the pattern, and make the strips longer. The finished size of the top, if it's made exactly as the pattern states, is about 75"x86". A queen sized quilt top should be about 95"x108" (mine is 95"x105", but whatever). So there you have it.

I also have the fabric for the back purchased, washed and ironed (I chose one of the solid Kona Cotton green colors that I had used in the top) so all I have to do is cut that in two and sew it together. Then, I can pin it all up, and start the quilting. Again, it's a good thing I've gotten our netflix restarted. Speaking of which, any good movie recommendations? Since we restarted netflix, we've watched the first disc of Mad Men season 1 (which I liked, Jared seemed indifferent), Munich, the Breakfast Club (Jared had never seen it, and come on! We had to!), and Bottle Rocket. So yeah, any suggestions would be much appreciated, since I'm going to have to majorly park myself on the couch to get this one done.