Pushing past the wall...

Ahhh, I think I'm hitting the "near the end of my project" wall.  I am aware of this phenomena.  I tried to put it into perspective for myself in my Let go, just do it blog update.

With this project, the closer I get to finishing, time also gets closer to Sweetling moving to NYC for higher education and it's hitting me like a ton of bricks.

I am a crazy mix of emotions.

I'm proud of her. She's worked so hard to get here.

I'm proud of me. I've worked so hard to get her here.

I'm excited to see what upcoming opportunities she'll take advantage of.

I'm nervous. You know, it's a big world out there.

I'm sad. I will no longer know exactly "where, what, who..." at all times.

I'm uncertain and scared. Have I taught her enough to make it out there?

Ughh, too many emotions to identify.

My baby is spreading her wings!!

Every day now, I find myself having to dry my eyes at unexpected times.  And I'm realizing that it's harder to let go than I ever expected!

~~~~~

I had slowed down with the burying threads, there's still 11 blocks to do. And I was letting other things distract me from the task.

I decided a change of pace might be what I needed to continue progress.  So yesterday I made the binding and attached it.

See, still have threads to bury.

And I started turning the binding

The high loft batting makes the job a little challenging. It's so fluffy!

Today, I continued hand turning the binding and took more pictures.

Hand turning the binding means that after attaching the binding to the front of the quilt, it's then folded over the raw edge to the back of the quilt and then hand sewn with needle and thread.  Special care is given so the stitches do not show on the front by traveling the needle in the batting layer only.

I am particular about how the corners are sewn.  I like mitered corners. (It starts with attaching binding. I'm sorry I skipped over this step.)

I carefully fold one side down and pin it in place.

Then fold the other side, tucking the fabric from the first fold close to the crease of the second fold, which causes the diagonal crease.  The folds can be manipulated to line up perfectly.

And a pin holds it all in place.

I stitch to the inside of the diagonal point.

The next stitch grabs the fabric from the other side. And a snug tug locks them together.

Then I start sewing the miter in place so that it won't unfold after the first wash and have a flap of fabric hanging out.

I ladder stitch all the way to the tip.

Then push the needle through to the front side.

And ladder stitch to the inside corner.

Then push the needle to the back side again.

And then continue on until the next corner!

I stitched for several hours today.  I reached the third corner.  I also had to put a heated rice pack on my forearm this evening because I over did it

But I'm gonna push past that wall and get it done!!

(Even if it means being under a quilt in this Mississippi August heat.)