A New Hand Quilting Project

 

I got a couple of borders on the basket quilt yesterday. The inner border was a bit sketchy. The combination of a thin border on a stretchy bias edge was almost too much. The second border seemed to bring everything back under control again, but it was touch and go for a while. I ordered a Baptist fan stencil, it should be here tomorrow. I was kind of surprised that I did not have one. I love doing fans, but they are usually free form. This quilt seemed to want something more regular though. I also ordered some 12 weight thread in a nice variegated yellow and pink shade that I think will work nicely. I have been streaming The Last Homely House on you tube while sewing lately and Kate does a lot of hand quilting with that type of thread. Sew, I thought I would give it a try. I have used lighter weight quilting thread as well as heavier Pearle cotton, so I am hoping that this will be somewhere in between. I got the back ready and pieced together some extra batting, but I don't want to layer it all up until after the stencil arrives. I am going to mark it with frixion pens that I have been using for my planner lately. I usually use Crayola washable markers, but they do tend to rub off over time, so I will see if I like this better. I am a slow hand quilter, so it needs to be sturdy to still be in good shape years from now when it is done.

There was a retirement party at work on Friday for our guidance clerk. She has always been so sweet and supportive of my quilting, so I just had to find a quilt for her to take with her. I chose a bullseye quilt which was one of my RSC22 quilts.  I am happy for her, but still sad that she will be gone. It is nice when people really want to help the kids. 

I have a draft of a paper that is due tonight on constructivist learning theory and educational standards. I will just give that a quick final edit and then make my way back down to the sewing space. I am thinking about pulling out a log cabin UFO that could be my next flimsy finish. I hope that you are finding time to sew something on this lazy Sunday. It is good to rest up before a new week comes on full force. Be sure to take some time to see what other slow stitching is happening at Kathy's Quilts before the weekends slips away. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Bold and Blue

I haven't put away the pink bin quite yet, but that will be first for today. The blue bin is a bit overflowing and will take some time to sort out. There are a few new blue blocks on the leader and ender project that is new for this year. I had a couple of random four patches lying around that got worked in as well.  

That all happened while I was webbing the top together for the basket quilt. You can't do simple stack and sew of of blocks with a diagonal setting like you can for a straight set, so it was a slow and steady process of sew a row and then check to make sure it is good before adding the next row.  I think some kind of border would be good. I would like to use the pink, but I pulled a 3.5 strip out of the scrap bin for the cornerstones and I think that is mostly used up. I will do a bit of digging and see what there is. It is a small quilt, so it won't take much. 

Even though it was a busy week at work, it looks like a nice calm weekend. I am thinking about loading another quilt on the frame. I think I have several with backing already pieced and I have a fresh new roll of batting to use along with some new spools of thread. Ah, the possibilities!