3/7/13

Because it’s easier than thinking

I have spent a ton of time quilting over the last week.  Every minute that I could spare. 

I have the center of this quilt just about finished and am about ready to move into the borders.

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And, from the back (I love the look of wholecloth).

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When I run out of ideas, I switch to hand quilting.

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I have hand quilted until my index fingers ache.  But, the Dresden Plate quilt has all the stability quilting in, all over, and now I can start to fill in the detail work.  The biggest problem I’m having with this quilt is that the older fabrics are so dense and it is incredibly hard to quilt tiny stitches through them.  But, where I’m just quilting through three or maybe four layers of modern fabrics, it goes easier.  Unfortunately, I don’t hand quilt enough anymore to recognize the effort saving steps I could have taken, like cutting away the background fabric behind the plates and centers.

Looking at these two quilts together is kind of like the tale of the tortoise and the hare.  I started the machine quilting on the smaller quilt much later than I started the hand quilting on the Dresden Plate.  But, it goes so much faster on the machine.

And, the whole time I’m working on these, I’m also thinking about which UFO to finish next and how to quilt the March Linus quilt. 

I don’t think I mentioned it, but I’m entering three quilts in the Georgetown quilt show this year.  It’s the weekend of the 23rd of this month.  I’m getting excited about that and need to get those quilts off the walls so they can be prepped for the show.  The one that’s never been in a show before doesn’t even have a label.  Even though the entry paperwork has been in for a while, I’m just really starting to get excited about this show.  It’s a small show, but we’ve seen some fantastic quilts there.  They do a vintage quilt section, too and those are always fun to see and read about.

Everybody have a great Thursday.  I am looking forward to two days of significant rest this weekend.  Hopefully, next week, the Dr will take Sydney off crutches and she can start carrying her own dirty dishes to the kitchen again. 

Be well!  Lane

4 comments:

andsewon said...

Awesome quilting as usual Lane! Look forward to seeing some pics of your quilts in the show. So happy Sydney is healing up and doing so well! Being young has it's advantages I reckon!;-)
Lola

Becky said...

What a timely comment! Just this morning I dragged out the infernal Dresden plate to work on. I have the same problem with all the vintage fabric. I am using thick needles and still bent the damned thing trying to do three stitches at a time. It is a huge quilt andI just can't stand to work on it for very long. It just an eternal wrestling match. Happy stitching!!

qltmom9 said...

Ooo...I like those, they have the "vintagey" look. Very pretty. Glad your Sydney is doing well.

Lucy~

Elizabeth said...

The Dresden quilt is so amazing! It is definitely an heirloom! I also love your machine quilting! Beautiful work, as always!

xo -E