C-o-m--p-l-e-ted!

I finished row 2.  It looks so good, IMHO!  I love this quilt.  Its going to be for a "grand" but gee I'm thinking seriously about keeping it.  What I would do with it I have no idea.  I think I have enough quilts.

I'm going to give you a few tips that I thought of while doing it today.  After I finished all the blanket stitching, I joined the reindeer blocks and the snowmen blocks together.  I found the centre of the reindeer row and pinned that to the center of the snowmen row.  (The centre is the seam in this row.)  I pinned the center and then pinned the two ends.

TIP:  When I pin the ends I place the pin at an angle..........This way I can get a good grip with the needle and sew a few stitches before I have to remove the pin and keep going.  Because this is going to hang for awhile, I decided to re-enforce the stitching at the beginning and end of the row.

I started pinning again.  I stopped for awhile, but I found my sewing was getting inconsistent and sloppy.  I don't like sloppy!  I am a perfectionist......drives me insane....some would say a very short drive!

TIP:  Before you start to sew the rows, make sure that both rows are facing in the right direction.  It may save you a lot of "reverse stitching"!

This next photo is really just to let you see how well you can hold that corner by pinning at an angle.

 Okay, the sewing is all done and its time to press.

I lay a terry towel on my ironing board.  I set the seams with my steam iron and then very carefully, press them to one side.  Doesn't matter at this point which way.  Both fabrics are the same colour.  If there was a dark and a light, I would press toward the dark side.  I give the whole thing a good pressing as it is going to hang for a month.  I don't want it folded to cause creasing perhaps in the fusible web.

Oh my gosh this is so cute.  I can't thank Fat Cat enough for this great pattern. 

I took a packing tube and first of all wrapped it in a terry towel.  I had to change my mind about the towel though as it made it way too heavy.  I switched that to a large washcloth. I lay the washcloth around the tube and inserted the tube

into the wall hanging after I had hung it on a hanger.  I used safety pins and two long pins to hold the fabric in place.  I made sure -- absolutely sure -- that there wasn't any tarnishing on the pins.  This piece of work is going to hang inside a clothes closet upstairs so I don't have to worry about dampness.  By placing the tube into the fabric there isn't as much chance of creasing.

I've put everything away in the storage boxes until next month including the thread I'm using to sew the rows together.  Next month Fat Cat will be offering

row 3 which are penquins.  I've already decided how I'm going to do them.  White flannelette for the tummies and black solid for the bodies.  I have the hat fabrics all selected...............I wonder if I'll change my mind.............................