Secret Project Reveal!

Finally! I finished the Secret Project for my sister AND she's received it, so now I can reveal it to the world. Well, maybe not the whole world. But you never know with the internet.

You can see my previous posts about the Secret Project here and here.

I used Gwen Marston's book on fabric books as my instructions. I think the little book came out pretty well. This book was supposed to be finished for my sister's birthday (in August). Didn't make it. Then, she was stopping by for the night a few weeks ago. I tried again to finish it. Didn't make it. I did manage to cut my finger real well with the scissors though! (Man, I couldn't believe I did that. I was aiming for the thread, but got my finger instead. Right on the tip of my index finger. Ouch!)

So, finally I said "enough is enough!" and sat down and finished the project. I was held up by not having spray starch when I needed it, and then just procastinated. I'm good at procrastination. I was hoping having a blog would help me just get past that. I'm trying, but I'm still procrastinating. Old habits. . . .

So, anyway, the picture up above is the front of the book. It was a hard call as to which page to use. I thought this one was eye-catching.


The next two pages. The page on the right is a direct copy of the one in Gwen's book. I was trying to get into the "zone" on how to do this. And I love that page!
Next. Sorry that dark red page just won't show up well. I tried stronger light AND photo editing, but it's just being shy!
Next, with another dark red page being difficult. (The piecing on the right-hand page just doesn't show up well. I had to cut it down too much.)
And finally the back of the book.


My sister was very pleased and surprised with the book. And I'm happy that she's happy!


It didn't come out as "perfect" as I wanted it to, but I learned a lot. The next one (if there are any more) will be easier. Next time I would do less piecing OR make the pages a little bigger. I had a hard time getting the block centered in the space when cutting down to the size Gwen suggested. Some of them look more off-center than I'm happy with for this rather formal-looking block. I think the next one I attempt I'll go more for the "wonky"!


On other fronts, I think I've decided what I want to do for the Quilt Together with Lazy Gal Tonya. I've tried some free-pieced letters and one jar. I'm not too happy with some of my letters, but I like the jar. Sorry, no pictures this time, but I'll have some for the next time.


My hands are starting to feel better. I've been taking it easy with them. (The house is looking like it too, unfortunately. But DH washed the large pile of dirty dishes today - Yay!) And I'm behind in commenting on blogs. I read blogs last night while I soaked my hand in Epsom salts, which really helped a lot. But I can't type with one (left) hand! So, I'm visiting, but lurking.


Oh, and I finished the other little fabric book, the one that was the 1st attempt. I'll show you that one in my next post.


And hey! A whole post without another fall quilt. But there's more coming. . . .