Last night I borrowed Fawn’s sewing machine and sewed the binding onto the quilt I’ve been making for my sister.
I have to do the hand quilting on the border, but it will be easier now that the edges have been stabilized (I do the border quilting without a frame). Once that’s done, I’ll hand stitch the binding onto the back.
You’ll have to excuse the poor quality of the photo – I took it quickly this morning with my iPad under dim lights. But what a difference having a binding partially sewn on makes to the way the quilt looks!
Yeah, well…what can I say? I’m definately behind the times.
I wanted to talk a little bit about the process. Process can be a funny thing. For me, the hardest part is actually deciding on the quilt to make. I decide that I want to make a quilt and that’s where I come to a screeching halt. The problem is that I want to make TOO MANY!
For example, this time last year I decided that I wanted to make my sister, Heidi, a quilt. About that same time I was starting the very first Treasure Chest block of the month, so I thought that I’d make that one for her. So…I started out with colours I thought she would like. But around about the 3rd month I changed my mind. This quilt was seriously hard! I mean really really really hard! I didn’t know if I’d be able to make all the blocks. So I joined the In Colour Order BOM and said that THIS quilt would go to my sister. I even told her so! And I happily got started sewing the block each month. This time, the monthly blocks were easy. I mean, really really really easy! And I loved each one. But again, it wasn’t really what I had in mind for my sister. It just wasn’t screaming “Heidi” at me. sigh.
So I decided that I would have to make something for Heidi from scratch. I would have to start from the very beginning with her in mind and pick the pattern & fabrics accordingly. Honestly, designing a quilt is just like choreographing a dance. I swear it! Sometimes it all comes together like snap, and other times you fight and fight until you give up and just let it tell you want it wants to do.
Anyway, the backing fabric for the quilt arrived last week (yay, it’s perfect!), and a couple of days ago I basted the sandwich together. Now I wish I could show it to you, but that would totally spoil the surprise.
But you know…a little taste wouldn’t hurt, would it?
There ya go! Next it goes into the lap frame to get hand quilted. That will be the time-consuming part. Also my favourite part.
So…what’s up with the Treasure Chest quilt? I decided not to make the last two blocks. That leaves me with 10 blocks and I know just what to do with them. I’ll save that for another post, okay?
I am also left with the In Colour Order quilt top. Amazing … one quilt for Heidi has generated three!
The other day I did the We Be Learning bee block for group 2. October is Christine’s month. I love this square and you will definately be seeing multiples of it in a quilt top of my own.
I’ll leave you with this a couple of Sammy pics. Nothing beats a tummy rub! And besides, one can never get enough Sammy-love. (and if these pictures come in upside-down one more time, I’m gonna scream!)
I got a lovely surprise after work today…a parcel from my friend Vicki in Maine! I had sent Vicki shopping for 1930s reproduction fabrics for me to use to finish my churndash quilt (my June block in the We Be Learning Bee). She has access to so many quilt shops there in Rockport Maine! We had gone shopping to our local quilt shop here in Whitehorse, but they didn’t have much of a selection. So I volunteered Vicki to shop for me when she got home. What a great friend!
In addition to the outer border, backing and binding fabric, she also sent along the fabric for my sister’s quilt. Now that’s a quilt I can’t show you until it is done and on her doorstep because she follows this blog. (Hi Heidi!). Today is also my brother’s birthday, but he doesn’t follow the blog (Happy Birthday, Bill, just in case you do!)
So these are my new works in progress for the next little while!
Here’s Vicki and me taken when she was in Whitehorse for a visit in August. 🙂
