Finding Balance and Joy in the Chaos

 The Rear View IS 2020!

Finding new paths to Joy has been my mantra for the past several months. The chaos, the political windstorm and the uncertainty that 2020 has wrought has caused me to look at life slightly differently. I'm exploring new paths.

Early on in the shutdown I lost my creative mojo. It's never happened to me to the degree that hit me in those first months. Each week brought more show bookings and guild cancellations and more bad news as the virus firestorm crossed the country. It was depressing and I'm not prone to depression on any level. I missed people and I made masks. I missed teaching and sharing and I missed all the structure and project management that goes into working in my chosen industry. I made masks. I missed people.

After many weeks of mask making I turned to what gives me energy - organizing everything in sight. Even though we have only been in our house for three years I found myself tearing into cupboards and closets with new enthusiasm. Towels were folded just so; files were organized and labeled; papers were shredded and recycled; bins and boxes were labeled and everything had it's place.  "Things" were looked at with more discerning eyes and honestly after a few weeks of those kinds of projects realizing the only thing left was to alphabetize the pantry items (gasp!) I asked my hubs if he wanted to tackle some remaining organizing in the garage. His response was an enthusiastic "Really, you will help me sort bolts and empty the last few boxes from the move?" Oh yes, I even relished that task and soon our house was in "For Sale" order even though we were not selling.

Now what? 

If you are a DIY "MacGyver" like me there are always projects waiting for the time to complete them. There are new things to try. New things to learn. Since our house is new my attention turned to some different things.  During my organizing and assessment phase above, I made lists of things I wanted to get accomplished. You know those projects that you want to do but never seem to find the time. Or perhaps it involves a new skill or takes you out of your comfort zone? I like to see if I can figure things out and rarely resort to online videos for help as I love the challenge of something new.

We have had this chair for several years. When we moved I had it recovered in this bird fabric and when I ordered the fabric for it I purchased three extra yards for some throw pillows. It's my favorite reading chair and I sit in it often. After a while I realized what would make it more comfy is a foot stool...a tuffet! I love that name. As luck would have it, I had the makings for one in my stash of miscellaneous DIY stuff. I felt the beginning stirrings of creativity happening. 

Oh and a reason to buy some new tools! Always a fun thing. If you plan to do any upholstery projects I recommend an electric  staple gun. I also have a cordless nail gun, but this is better suited to stapling fabric to wood.

 

I figured how hard could it be? I've never done any upholstery, sure lots of sewing, including home dec stuff but this was a new challenge. I gathered some wood, some foam, thick batting, 3/8" cording, tacky glue, 5/8" long staples and some cute bun feet that I took off another piece of furniture thinking I would repurpose them someday. I started out by covering the piping and then cut the fabric circle for the top and attached the piping to the edge. Next up was the side piece and that took a bit of engineering but it went together pretty well.  I was not used to dealing with such heavy fabric but after changing to a larger sewing machine needle things went pretty smoothly.

I used a jig saw to cut the circle of wood from some scrap lumber I snagged from the hubs stash and painted the bun feet.  I tested the height and since it seemed comfy I covered the wood bottom side with some quilt fabric I had. I put some tacky glue all across the center and stapled it around to the "top side" that would be where I would glue the foam. I wanted the bottom to be as pretty as the top and the glue would ensure the fabric would not sag. Once that was done I set about attaching the super thick quilt batting over the foam to soften the edge of the tuffet top. I just used some heavy thread and a big needle and hand gathered it to the bottom of the foam cushion.

 

Next up was to glue the batting covered foam to the wood, again tacky glue all over the wood. And I mean all over and a lot of it. Then I slipped the bird fabric cover over the foam and flipped the whole thing over and started stapling. Once I had the cover in place - not using too many staples as I knew I needed to staple on the final cording - I just brought the fabric up over the wood and folded it under so the edge was finished.You can see here the progression of my steps.

At this point I needed to add the large covered button I had made. I had pre-drilled a hole in the center of the wood so I could pull the string through to the bottom and put some tension on it to give the tuffet some tufting. I remembered seeing some really long giant needles at JoAnn's in the upholstery section so off I went to snag one. Once I had the 12" long needle the button was installed without incident - proof again that the right tool for the job makes the job easier. 

All that was left at this point was to attach the bun feet. I had pre-drilled some holes in the feet before painting them and just used some drywall screws to attach to the tuffet base. Drywall screws are so versatile and I use them for so many things. Since I could see the knot of the string I used to attach the button on the top I glued a large button over that to tidy up the bottom. Yep my type A is showing and as I put my feet up with a good book, I gave a fist pump for another new thing I learned and an item on my to-do list checked off!

 

 

When you unleash joy, creativity often follows.
 

As more cancellations of trade shows and teaching events arrived in my email box I looked for more creative things to tackle. 

 

Glass flowers for my gardens? 

Oh yes! I had seen several in some garden stores and boutiques and discovered in my cleaning and organizing that I had many glass and china pieces that would make some lovely flowers. 

 

All I needed to do was drill the glass - wait what? Drill glass? Are you nuts?  I remembered we had a few ceramic bits from installing grab bars in the shower (for the future and for the parents when they visit - I'm not frail yet LOL) and I remember using water to keep the bit cool since it takes a while to drill glass and ceramic. So I grabbed a couple of Oui yogurt jars from the recycle bin and filled up my large tub with water, set a chunk of wood on the bottom so the glass would be just submerged and started drilling. 

 

What works is a normal speed, angle the bit to start, once it grabs and starts to cut a little groove, you straighten the bit as you would normally drill. My first yogurt jar was a success! Another was on deck and I got a bit energetic with the pressure and it cracked. 

 

What I can tell you is this: Buy a good quality bit, use water, GO SLOW. Slow even pressure, not force, gets the job done. Ceramic is way harder to drill and more time consuming but I persevered and TADA! I have a lovely collection of glass flowers in my garden. I used some water line copper tubing - the kind you would use to hook up the ice maker and some 1/2" copper conduit and soldered (A FIRST!) some stems and leaves to the conduit. The drawer pulls, some silicone caulk (100% silicone) and some nuts and washers to hold them all together and after pounding some 4' steel rebar pieces in the dirt, sliding the "stem" over the steel, they were glittering in the sun after several days of work. I loved this project especially since I learned some new things and went at it like a fearless DIY Diva!  These just make me smile when I see them in the yard.

Focus on the good, look for the joy even if you are the one that has to create it!

 

Having unleashed my DIY Ninja I decided to finally tackle a project that I have needed to do since we moved into our new house. Over the next several weeks I made a slipcover for a chair I have had for decades and a ottoman that didn't even match the chair! It is the perfect "sit and read" chair and when we moved we donated the matching couch but kept the chair for our bedroom. What I liked about the slipcover project was it was mostly engineering. Taking something flat (fabric) and making it 3D and removable. Talk about a challenge. I won't go into the steps but you can see by the collage below that there were many. I barely had enough of the fabric from the chair to do the ottoman (which I had purchased with the idea of only doing the chair and not the ottoman too) so I had to get creative. In order to cover the legs I used the piping fabric to make vent pleats and I literally had just a few scraps of the paisley fabric left once I got the whole thing done.  I love projects where I have to problem solve and get creative to get the outcome I desire.

I am really pleased at how these two pieces that didn't belong together turned out and now look so fab in our room.  Not a beginner project on any level but I loved the challenge and the outcome. Who knew that giving new life to an old but still comfy chair and a mismatched ottoman would give me such a sense of accomplishment.

As you can see 2020 had it's challenges. Being unemployed in the quilt industry all year was not something I planned on and yet digging deep into the creative problem solving well God gave me, I found immense satisfaction and JOY! I still have some show quilts to complete even if there are no shows where they can be entered...I'm not quite there yet but inching ever closer.

Port Austin, MI with my ski racer 💕

While I don't know what the rest of 2021 holds I do know that I'm going to continue to open my eyes and my mind to trying new things, go down new paths, maybe look for new opportunities and in the process be thankful for all the goodness that is around me. I invite and challenge you to do the same. I'm not looking back!

Blessings,

Linda Thielfoldt

PS: Thanks for hanging with me in this long post - hope you enjoyed my long winded musings 😊

Something Fun Outside My Studio Window

Summer and the gardening is easy 

 

Almost August and my interest in quilting has been taken over by the beauty of my gardens. Many quilters I know also enjoy gardening, I'm no exception. My studio has many windows and from them I have a perfect view of several of our garden beds.

We have a pie shaped lot and behind the white fence is our vegetable garden. This large bed is in the middle of our yard and has many perennials and a little space in front for annuals. I love the giant rocks and enjoy watching the birds and bees.

 

This bed next to our patio is the one directly outside two of the windows in my studio.

It gets sun all morning and then in early afternoon it's shaded by the house. I'm still figuring out the plants and since our house is only two years old and the first year we had nothing in this bed other than the Limelight hydrangea it's still pretty young as gardens go. I was going for a lime and pink theme.

Most of you that know me, know my love for pink and have seen it in many of my quilts over the years. This one from 2014 appeared in American Patchwork & Quilting and is one of my favorites. 

But getting back to something fun....

I've wanted a water feature somewhere in my garden for years. I was not up for a major pond project, nor did I want the maintenance they require so my idea was to create a waterfall pond that I could do on the cheap and also maintain with little effort for the winter.

Here is the mostly completed rock fountain waterfall. I say mostly completed as I need to add a few more rocks and I also want to add a riser to the fountain pipe so I can set the pump on the bottom of the garden pot and not on the rocks.

So here is what you need:

• Rocks - from lemon to grapefruit size, mine were free from a friend
• Submersible Water Fountain Pump - I got mine at Menards for $16
• Replacement BBQ grate - also at Menards $6
• Large Saucer type plastic garden pot - mine was 22" and found on Amazon for $22 I found this size worked best with the spray pattern of my fountain pump and matched the size of the BBQ grate. This pot has a rubber plug in the drain hole, if your pot does not come with this, you will need to fill with either 100% silicone caulk or plumbers putty. Personally I'd go with the caulk and use the GE brand
• Nearby electrical outlet and possibly outdoor timer (I'm using the one we have for Christmas lights) 
• Shovel to dig the hole for the garden pot

• 4 Tent stakes to hold down BBQ grate - also found at Menards $4

Pick your spot and dig a hole to fit your pot. You want the lip of the pot even with your dirt or mulch. You can see here that the pump pipe that holds the different spray nozzles is not very tall and I had to set the pump on rocks in order to make it tall enough for my rock pile.  I plan to get a taller pipe and eliminate the rocks as I want it to sit lower in the water to be able to run longer without having to refill due to evaporation or wind blowing the water coming out of the fountain away from the pot. The waterfall pump comes with several types of spray nozzles - they are inserted after you push the grate down over the pipe.
Fill the pot with water and test the pump. Here you can see I have one of the nozzles attached. I like this spray pattern.
Next attach the four tent stakes with them facing away from the pot just as you would a tent rope. I just put them through the grate into the ground at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock. This keeps the grate from moving. You can barely see them - little silver tabs in the pic above.  

Start adding your rocks. Put bigger uglier ones on the bottom and save the prettier ones and smaller ones for the top. I placed some beyond the grate as I wanted to completely cover all the mechanics. I just want it to look like a rock fountain.

 

I need to add a few more rocks but I'm thrilled with the result and it makes a nice soothing sound. You may have to add water daily or whenever you run or depending on the sun and wind but I think it's worth it for the cost and the effort.  Come fall all I have to do is lift the grate, remove the pump, pick up the pot and dump the water and bring that inside. Come spring reverse the process.  I'll be adding plants to this garden bed but I like to take it slow and see what is happy and go from there. There will be more hostas for sure.

Hope your summer is going well and let me know if you try this out in your garden. Enjoy!

Blessings,
Linda

 

Midnight Musings Amidst the Season of Hope

FYI:  This is not quilt related. And kinda personal and sappy.

 

First a confession. 

I love Christmas. 

I love everything about it. I love that it's a beautiful time of year filled with hope and joy. I love the traditions, the hymns and carols. I love the food and indulgences. And I'm going to get real, I even enjoy the crazy chaos that seems to enter my life at this time of year. 

As I was sitting in our great room with a gray kitty purring on my lap, the lights off but for the tree and garlands; a sappy Hallmark moving playing softly in the background I spent a little time reflecting.  I have a man that loves me, even the icky parts; I've had another birthday that reminded me I'm still cancer free and here. (That alone is a miracle - not once but three times) I have friends that have become my family; I have a tribe of friends that support me even when I don't know I need it or deserve it. I'm beyond blessed. Truly blessed.




 
What I chose not to focus on is the brokenness in my own family. The people that are supposed to love you but don't. The people who are supposed to have your back but will sometimes take up sharp objects instead. Or sharp words. Friends too. People that let you down. I've made peace with them and all of that "stuff" and honestly, I choose joy. Very few of us have a Hallmark family. But we have a choice and I choose not to own that stuff. Not my dog, don't have to walk it. It's part of life for many of us. But instead of dwelling on what a loss those things are to me, I choose to focus on the wonderful people that have become my family.  I think God did an amazing thing when he created us to have friends.  Friends are the family you choose.

A couple of weeks ago I got out my mother's recipe box and started pulling out the cookie recipes that have been made in my family for decades. I love baking and giving them as gifts just makes me happy so I wanted to be sure I had all the supplies I would need. I lost my mother when I was in a senior high school on the 12th of December.  She was sick and battled breast cancer from the time I was 9 years old. Pulling out those recipe cards well worn and stained, written in her hand was beyond bittersweet. As luck would have it, it was December 12th. I was alone as my ski racer was out of town on business, I had sappy Christmas music on the stereo, the tree was lit up and well it just sort of hit me...I was a hot sobbing mess and I couldn't stop. I'm pushing 60 so when this happens it's a shock after so many years.  I'm convinced when there is grief like that, there has been great love.

Some years are like that.  

After my meltdown I was so thankful that the person who shall not be named did not toss the box when she married my dad just a few short months after my mom died. I'm so thankful I have those cards - such a small thing but they are a reminder yet again how blessed I am. Even though I had her for such a short time she made her mark and so many of the things I do today are things she taught me or things I watched her do. She left a legacy that I'm grateful for. And recipe cards.

 

After my evening of quiet time I realized that the lights on our pre-lit tree had partially burned out. I was a bit shocked because it's only the 2nd Christmas. Since I'm hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas day dinners and a brunch on New Years I wanted to get the burnt string replaced. My Martha Stewart was showing. 

It's 6 days till Christmas. I hit the first store and didn't realize that there were both warm and white LED lights.  Yep you guessed it, I bought the wrong ones. So the next day I head over to our local grocery-everything store and figure they would have them. Nope, not an LED light to be had. Ditto with Lowes right next door, ditto with the local Ace Hardware so I figure I have no choice but to drive across town to the Menards where I bought the wrong ones and exchange them. 

I spent a whole afternoon in search of LED lights and I realized that this is what happens to many of us during the Christmas season.  We are searching for perfection. We have some idea about what needs to happen before we can celebrate.  Before we can enjoy the real meaning and hope of the season. Isn't that an ironic thing? We are all broken in some way, some more than others, just like the lights on my tree.  Perhaps it's between friends or family, or it's our health, our our finances or even a pre-lit Christmas tree. And yet we waste precious time chasing that perfection or trying to fix it when, in the big picture it never mattered to begin with. 

On my way back to Menards I was sitting at a light in a part of town I would not normally be in after dark and I looked over at a building I had been to a couple of times.  It's a shelter for women and children that have been through some tough stuff, whether it's drugs, abusive home situations, homelessness or any other thing you can think of. We've partnered with them many times.  I saw a vehicle pull up to the door that had some years on it, a slight woman jumped out and grabbed a couple of clear garbage bags full of wrapped gifts.  I could only assume they were donated for the residents of that shelter. A man with a "security" vest on came out to help her unload her vehicle. 

My first thought was how awesome there are still people in the world who choose to share the blessings in their life with those who have less or in some cases nothing and my second thought was to pray over those gifts that they would be a bright spot in the life of the recipient. My last thought was to look for more ways to share not only what's in my wallet but also my life. To listen for those little voices that prompt me to send a card or a small gift...or even my homemade sea salt caramels. To find more ways to give my time. My skills. And perhaps, even the reason I have hope. My faith.  And all of that came out of my search for light when in fact it's already the most important part of my life and all this other stuff is just details, even the broken bits.

May the light that shined over that manger a couple thousand years ago be visible in new ways to you this Christmas.  Even if you believe differently than me, may that belief bring you to a place of joy like you've never felt before. And lastly thank you for being part of my life.

God Bless and Merry Christmas.

Love Linda

P.S.  I may or may not get that string of lights replaced before our guests arrive. I've decided to spend the rest of the weekend baking gifts to take to some seniors who might enjoy a sweet surprise and just the thought of that makes my heart happy.

White Stuff On The Ground! ...and the floor!

Wait! It never snows before my birthday! 

By Linda Thielfoldt

It's December no wait scratch that! It's November 7th and it snowed in the Mitten today.  It never snows and sticks before my birthday so this is rather unexpected.  I have to admit it was pretty on the trees behind my house, you know the trees that still have their leaves.  Yeah read that one again! LOL

Anyway it's put me in the mood for Christmas! I K R!

So I thought since it was early enough to talk about working on Christmas projects I would share a really fun one I did a year ago at this time.

We were married in 1994 amidst all the gobs and gobs of lace, sequins and puffy sleeves that were so popular at that time and oh yes, yards of fabric for the train. Yep! I loved my wedding dress but I was so sad that it's sat in a box, sealed up for dear life for the past 25 years. 

We have moved three times and each time we move the giant hermetically sealed box. I don't have a daughter.  Even if I did I'm not sure she would want to wear a dress that weighed 35#. Seriously it did. And then there are those sleeves. 

I love this pic with my sweet sister Em. She was so happy and was so loved by both of us. You can see a bit more of the dress. (remember this was before digital pictures)




New house, new tree and theme. 

We have always had theme trees. Pigs (for my farm boy) angels and collected treasures. I used to put up three trees every year. But smaller house, simpler decor. I wanted something fancy, something decorating magazine worthy. So I started buying fancy ornaments, mercury glass, crystal, white, sparkly...you get the picture. I got most of them on sale after Christmas and finally had enough to do our 9' tree. 




Then came the reality that my quilted tree skirt would not go at all with the new tree. Pretty as it was, it just didn't go. So I knew I needed to make a new one.  We had moved a few months prior and I was once again faced with the huge hermetically sealed box containing my wedding dress.  

BINGO!  And idea is born.

My dress was a mermaid style with a really full skirt that extended into a rather long train. I thought the skirt would be perfect as my new tree skirt. So I dug out the huge box and was delighted upon opening that the dress was just as pure white as the day I wore it. Guess that preserving stuff really worked.  Anyway I laid it out and got the scissors. 

The dress had a lining, the skirt a stiff crinoline and another underskirt. TONS of fabric.  So I cut the skirt off and realized that it was rather plain. All the bling was on the dress part and the sleeves.  Ah yes, those sleeves.  

 












Here is the skirt pile.  And you can see how much fabric was in that mermaid skirt. The great thing about this was all along the bottom edge of the skirt was this beautiful lace. So I left that and cut the skirt the right height to allow that to be the hem.  Bonus - no hemming!

Next up to figure out how much of the yards and yards of fabric that made up the skirt would be needed to make my circle tree skirt.  You can see here how long the mermaid part was before it expanded into the train. So much fabric.  No wonder it weighed 35#!

Once I got that figured out and had a plan I kept the crinoline and the lining intact and basted along the top edge to hold the three layers together.

Next up was to deconstruct the bodice and remove the lace appliques I wanted to add to the skirt.  This was so tedious and time consuming but the results were worth it.

This was from the bust and the back of the dress. The back was mesh all the way to my waist and had so many lace applique pieces that there was a lot to choose from. It was just a matter of cutting away the mesh. So many beads and sequins!

This is one of the sleeves. The open work with the lace applique was so beautiful I knew I had to use it. Cutting it off that ruffled satin was tricky but the results were worth it.

This is what I ended up with after I destroyed the sleeves.  

RIP big puffy sleeves!

Next up I had to put the skirt together.  I went with the zig zag stitch over string method as there was so much to deal with that a big basting stitch was not going to cut it. 

Once I got it gathered I realized that there was a bigger hole in the center than I wanted so I cut off some more of the skirt edge and made a gathered insert to make the hole smaller. Bonus was a bit more bling with the hem lace in the center.  I was loving this. Next I started adding the lace applique pieces.  This photo shows what I took off the center front, this was the bust area. So beautiful.  I actually sewed the ruffled insert to the underside of the skirt and then flipped it to the front thereby finishing the inner circle edge at the same time.

I used my zipper foot and clear thread to zig zag stitch the appliques to the skirt only. I left the crinoline and lining free.  That was a fabric explosion under my needle for sure!

I added them evenly around the skirt but planned to have the bodice applique be to the front after it was installed under the tree.  


You can see in the pic below that I was able to use many of them.  I just love how blingy it is and so perfect for my "fancy" tree.

Photo bomber is Winnie 😸

And here is my fancy blingy silver and white theme tree!  I love that I can use my wedding dress tree skirt every year and reflect fondly on how amazing my life has been since I married this guy. I had no idea I would be this blessed. 

BTW I should tell you that my MIL was horrified that I cut up my wedding dress!  Better to enjoy every year than sit in a sealed box in the basement don't you think?  She has since changed her mind after seeing our tree.  

Even though it's only November my wish is that you have a blessed Christmas (or whatever you choose to celebrate at this time of year 💗)

Blessings, 

Linda

Successful Mitered Corners

Taking the tricky out of mitered corners on quilts.

 by Linda Thielfoldt
 
Many times either the quilt or the fabric determines when to use a mitered corner on a quilt border and today I want to share with you a sure fire trick for perfection when it comes getting the corner square and the pattern match as close to perfect as you can.

While working on this quilt I decided to use this border stripe fabric I found in my stash. I knew I didn't want to add any corner blocks, nor did I like the idea of having the stripe dead end into the side of the opposing border. Straight pieced border corners  just were not an option.

Where to begin

This border fabric is directional and I decided to make the border follow one direction around the quilt. Some fabrics don't require this planning ahead, but this particular one did.  After I decided on the direction and starting point I carefully pinned the border on the quilt, extending the ends well beyond the width of the border yet to be added.  In this case the stripe fabric border pieces were 6.5" wide so I knew I had to leave at least 8" or more on each end past the sides of the quilt. 

There are some key steps to follow:

 
1) The key to starting is to start the border seam 1/4" away from the edge of the quilt, if you know anything about the process, that is standard procedure. If you are not sure or cannot eyeball that then measure and mark the starting point.  This measurement is critical! Do not sew to the end as you see here in the photo.

2) Be sure to use a small stitch - for my machine that is a 2.0.

3) BACKSTITCH.  Do not skip this step.  

For this quilt I added the borders in a clockwise fashion, working my way around so as to keep the pattern going in the right direction. I mitered each corner as I went around. On normal fabric this may not be an issue, you could conceivably add two long sides and then two short sides and then do the miters all at once.

The process for each border is the same. Pin, sew, leave 1/4" unsewn at each end. Essentially what you end up with is something that looks like this photo. You can see that the border fabrics on both borders in this view extend beyond the width of the opposing border - make sure you don't cut them too short to begin with.

Carefully fold one of the border strips back and under as shown in the photo. To know you have the correct 45° the two border strips should lay nicely one on top of the other, right sides facing and have both edges aligned. Once you have the strip laid out and the match looks perfect press that fold.
Normally you would fold the border that is on the bottom of the quilt in this pic up and away from you and sew on the fold line you just pressed.  However, the tricky part is to keep that position exactly as you laid it out. Getting it pinned perfectly with all the flipping required can be really challenging, even with multiple pins. So what to do?  I needed the white stripe in the fabric to match up exactly as I knew that would be the most obvious point where a bad match would be highly visible.

Ta dah!  1/4" sticky iron-on tape to the rescue! 

 
There are several brands of this available but I bought this giant roll online.  It is peel and stick but also fusible. And as a bonus it washes out.

So essentially you cut a piece the size to fit that pressed mitered seam, stick it on the fabric, peel off the carrier, fold back over, check alignment and then press.  

 Here is a link to the one I bought but there are others:

1/4" iron on tape

I also use this tape when doing decorative pillows with piping, it helps keep the piping in place so you don't need pins which can be unwieldy.  Plus there are a ton of other uses as well.

 

Bingo - perfectly matched mitered corner.  For extra security and perfection, I always pin the border fabric that extends as well as the seam I pressed.  Drag the quilt to the machine and sew that seam. 

  

I prefer to start sewing at the outside of the border and sew toward the inside corner.  I find that an open toe foot is very helpful for this task as you can to be able to clearly see what you are doing when you get near the beginning of the border seam. Again I prefer to back stitch.  Keep in mind you need to fold the quilt border out of the way to get to that Y seam point. Do not sew past the intersection of the border seam you sewed previously.

Open up the seam and check your match, if good to go you can press and then trim to 1/4".

Pretty pleased with the match! Just need to trim the seam.  Once you do that you can opt to press to one side OR you can press that seam open, I usually do what gives me the best results. 

Hope this helps you the next time you need to put a strip or mitered corner on a quilt.

Blessings,

Linda