First completion of 2014

The "Green Thumb Challenge" for quilt guild required the following:

• use of the template for one flower and one leaf
• use a four patch somewhere in the quilt
• use black and white somewhere in the quilt
• use a button
• use string

Otherwise, any size, any shape, any color, etc.

I think the templates, the four-patch and the black-and-white are obvious. The string is two kinds of cording --- a shiny red cord around the flower, the flower center and the "bud" on the right, and a black perle cotton as a stem. The button is a layered button - a red button layered with a sparkly jewelry finding in the flower center.

What went wrong? Well,

• even with a lot of care and pinning, the four-patch corners did NOT match up so I had to move the flower further into the four-patch that I wanted to cover that up...
• the fusible interfacing I used on the flower and leaves didn't really stick (it was Saudi Arabian vintage so I guess it lost its ooomph) so the couched cording had to function to cover and hold down the edges.
• My basting was inadequate so there are pleats in the quilting in places
• I've never ever machine quilted before so this was a real challenge, trying to get this nasty piece of work to fit under the arm of my machine and wrestle ti through.
• While quilting, the thread broke twice, the needle unthreaded itself at least three times, a piece of broken thread got caught in the tension wheel and the bobbin had to be refilled. All reasons I hate my machine as well, because I had to rethread that blasted needle at least six times and the last two, the eye of the needle had batting threads stuck in it! YUCK!
• My tension was off a little --- the red thread showed through on the back in places, especially at the start and finish of quilted lines.
• My binding is "OK" but the corners! ARRRGH! It makes the quilt pucker at the corners and cup a little. NOT what I had planned. And I messed up the join so the red polka dot fabric frays a lot and shows white, and that means the join is visible!
• The quilt was squared off but doesn't look it... and it's too BIG! I wanted something smaller

So this is my attempt.

I hate it, actually --- so many things went wrong with it and it really doesn't look like I had pictured in my feeble brain when I decided to take this one but... what can one expect form a person who doesn't have a green thumb in real life, right?  Well, it's done and if the guild meeting isn't canceled Thursday night due to weather (we are ins a Snow Emergency Level Three right now which means no-one on the roads, period, or you can be arrested! Not that we can FIND out roads right now...), it will be submitted.