Progress x 17 Months

Finally, an update on my Mangoes For Breakfast afghan.

This afghan has been in the works for at least 17 months. I wasn't happy with my first conception which used multiple other yarns of various colours. At that time I planned to crochet it in squares. The previous squares are pictured back in May 2007.

From the start I wanted a colourful piece with squares within a square. I consider intarsia and mitered squres. In the end I chose the log cabin approach.

Each square measures 18" x 18." I finished 20 squares to cover a double bed. It will be 4 x 5 squares for a finished size of about 75" x 90"

I tried top seamed crochet join, but didn't like the added lines. Instead I am working on a mattress stitch join.

This is a mammoth, heavy project. To help with its structural stability I am making it into a quilt. I have the cotton batting and the cotton fabric for backing.

The fabric I chose was on sale from Fat Quarter Shop dot com. The print is Malibu Monkeys by Erin Michael for Moda Fabrics. The backing fabric is the one with the white background. I think it is a better backing choice and will make the overall finished piece a little less bold. The all yellow fabric is a deeper yellow than the Melody Sunny Yellow of the log cabin squares. I may use the yellow fabric for binding.

I am not certain how much quilting I will have to do to keep this piece together. I planned to use buttons to help with the sandwich process. I will have to see how this works. This is uncharted territory for me!

I likely will sew 4 pillow cases from the remaining fabric to send a long with the finished piece. It is exciting getting near the finish line with this enormous project. The finished result is still a fuzzy image in my mind's eye.