Cows Quilt Flimsy Finish

One of the fabrics I snagged when I was shopping with Julie last week was a rich purple, my aunt's favourite colour, "Mementos" by Gudrun Erla for Red Rooster Fabrics.  I thought with the multi-coloured daisies all over it, it might work as the border for the cows quilt.  I'm so happy to say it DID!!

Finishing this flimsy was on my 'sidenote' to my Q4 list and with a couple of hours until midnight, I got it done!  The above photo was taken first thing Sunday morning, January 1, but Instagram peeps saw it New Year's Eve.

Here's a closer look at that border and how it just works with the multitude of fabrics in this quilt, which was my RSC 2015 project...that um yeah, kind of bled into 2016! (get it?! 'bled'?)

I am SO happy with that barn block! It has led to my block plan for the RSC 2017!  For placement of all the blocks, I staggered the floral churn dashes rather than trying to line up seams.  The cows weren't all exactly the same size; they actually were 12" unfinished which made me freak out a bit.  However, I had many months to ponder a solution to this problem, and so I ended up adding narrow strips to two sides, and because the cows and the churn dashes all are floating on the background fabric, it worked.

Speaking of working, I thought I'd show you how well this Quilt Calculator from Robert Kaufman works for borders.  It's a free app!

Notice though how many uses it has, from figuring out how much backing you need depending on the size of your flimsy, to measurements for those pesky side-setting and corner triangles.  Here is how I used it to figure out how much fabric I needed for my final border:

I put in the width and length for the flimsy before borders. 60.5 X 64" it was at this point.  I wanted a 4" finished border (it automatically will add the 1/2" seam allowance).  So I put 4 in Border 1.  Notice that it will figure out yardage for up to 4 borders.  Nice!  Hit 'calculate' and...

It tells me how much yardage, and how many strips I will need to cut.  I did cut seven, joined them with mitred seams and I had a little left over.  I did buy a yard, because who buys 7/8??!!  So I had about 5" X WOF left in addition to the little bit left over!

I'm up to speed with my 150 Canadian Women blocks too.

#19 Roberta Bondar, first Canadian woman in space in 1992 (note the use of black in her block); #20 Sarah Edmonds, the only woman, Canadian or American, to receive a federal veteran's pension, because she disguised herself as a man! #21 is Amber Balcaen, who, as of August 28, 2016, is in the first level of NASCAR. She's only 24 years old, so I made sure to use modern fabrics and put a "checker flag" in the centre!

I'll be back on Monday with a challenge for 2017! Hope you join me as well as Lisa of Sunlight in Winter Quilts for this.