For the record, it was probably dumb to combine constructing a 47-piece block with assembling an entire border row as my monthly quilting goal for the shortest month of the year.

Sure, I had two days of vacation towards the end of February, but it didn’t seem like this was a “2 days” kind of sashing/assembly project.

But I gamely started the border row with less than a week left in the month.

I was getting down to the end of the current yard of red fabric, so rather than trying to cut a few of the red triangles out of it, I cut off about a yard worth of red fabric in 8.5″ strips, and started cutting triangles out of those instead.

For the official record, this is the sixth yard of the red fabric, even though I still have a fair chunk (close to a quarter yard) left of the fifth yard. I’m just documenting the new yard so I don’t lose track again.

My original plan was to cut out all the remaining setting triangles for the remaining three border rows, but then I started to get worried about how long it was going to take me to stitch the one border row that was my actual goal for February.

So I stopped cutting triangles after I got to fifteen, and started stitching the left side border together.

The border assembly was pretty uneventful (way less dramatic than the previous triangle border row I assembled), but it took time – 12 days, in fact. I figure that’s not too bad for hand-stitching over 17 feet of seams while working full-time.

The photo for this article shows the row still in three sections so that it would fit in the photo, but never fear, I did sew the three sections together after taking the picture.

And for the record, I oriented the photo that direction on purpose. Since this is the border on the left side, I turned the triangles in the direction they will be facing on the completed quilt.

Officially (for the record, of course), I didn’t get this border completed until February 34th, also known as March 6th. But for such an ambitious monthly goal, I feel okay about needing those extra six days.

I’ve been having some trouble with arthritis-like symptoms in my fingers that probably also had an impact on meeting my February deadline. I really hope these aches don’t slow me down too much, as I am in the homestretch of piecing this quilt.

For the record, it is a 2+ year homestretch that I’m talking about. I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking I’ll finish in the next few weeks or even months. But I’m pleased with the progress I’m making even with achy fingers. On to the next block!