Overachiever

Remember this quilt? I made it to fit our sofa. It's just a top with finished edges so it won't ravel because batting and backing would have made it too heavy to lift. It works great on the sofa as a cover to keep our light gold sofa from turning dirt brown. But, it's always needed something. It's pieced from pieces of old jeans and some yardage for the border and I made the whole thing last year on my treadle machine, Jenny.



So, when the border seam on the end where Sydney flops let loose and needed to be repaired, I figured that while I had the treadle set up to do that, I may as well give that old girl a go and see if she would free motion quilt.

Guess what. She did.



I only quilted the borders and I guess that technically, it's embroidery because there is only the one layer of fabric. But, nonetheless, these leaves really added something to the edges of the quilt.




I used my regular, short shank, free motion foot and I needed my supreme slider to get her to slide over the machine bed that isn't slick and shiny anymore, and especially over the wooden machine surround of her cabinet top.

And, I sat and treadled and moved this quilt for about four and a half hours, until it was done. It's back on the sofa now and the treadle is put away. But, somehow, I'm thinking that treadle might get called on for this some more. It was fun. Oh, it's not the high quality work I'd expect from my Bernina, but it was plenty good for a denim throw quilt.

Rob got some footage of me working on it and we'll post it to youtube as soon as he is feeling better. Of course, he's got what Sydney gave me and despite my best efforts, I must have given it to him. Poor thing. He slipped up behind me and was filming me without me knowing, so he's got to edit out what I said when I realized he was back there with the camera. It was sort of a surprise and I wasn't very "genteel".

So, he's sick and the rest of us are in full swing preparation for his Mother to get here on Wednesday for a week long visit. We love it when his Mom comes to visit. She is the easiest houseguest I have ever had and probably the most gracious and grateful person I know. She's from the country. Raised a half dozen kids on a farm while her husband drove a truck. She knows what it's like to stretch a bag of beans across a bunch of hungry mouths and what it's like to drive herself to the hospital while in labor. I think that hardship either makes a person or breaks them and it has made her into a fine and gentle soul whose health is compromised by those years of making do.

And, while we don't actually have to clean the house for her...she'd be just as comfortable if it was the way we live in it...it sure is nice to offer her all the comfort we can for a week. She gets treated like a queen and barely has to crook her finger to have three willing servants to satisfy her every need.

The only drawback is that I have to turn over the sewing room to Sydney. Her alternate suggestion? Give Topsy our bed.

Okay, so I can do hand piecing for a week to keep my big soft bed.

Lane