Just a little texture, please

I really like this quilt. 

When I finished it, I was skeptical.  I like the piecing and the color.  But, how the heck was I going to quilt it?  I wanted to add quilting, but only as additional texture, not to show off.

I started with the ditchwork.  On a quilt like this one, ditchwork serves a double purpose.  It stabilizes the sandwich, but it also lets me get to know the quilt.  Really, run my hands all over it and look at it from different angles and figure out the things I like and the things I’d like to hide.  After all the seams were locked down, I quilted a freehand flower and leaf pattern in the sashing.  When that was done, I was still not sure what to do next.  I sat and looked at the quilt, without sewing a stitch, for a whole morning.  The answer I kept coming up with was, don’t do anything else, except the outer border.  But, that isn’t what I wanted to do either.  One morning, i sat down and started drawing straight lines, outward, toward the corners at 3/4” intervals.  I drew on two blocks and I liked what I saw, so I quilted those lines in.  And, I liked them better.  And, the more I quilted, the better I liked them. 

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So, then I got all ambitious and started quilting a double Ohio Star outline in the center blocks.  At least the large center blocks.  Some centers are too small or the wrong shape for this, but most of the blocks have a 4” center square.

Just texture. 

Remember that I wasn’t sure how I was feeling about the Hobb’s wool batting?  Well, I’ve decided I like it.  So, I bought another one to use.  I like the loft it gives me.  These straight lines would have disappeared in a warm and natural batting, which was my preferred.  But, here, they stand up and add to the quilt, without standing out in any way.

 

On an unpopular side note, I am sooooo tired of gay being in the news, y’all.  I think people would find that if they’d just tell us they have a problem with gay people, we’d leave them alone.  Unfortunately, that means other people would leave them alone, too.  And, they don’t want to do that.  They want the right to be prejudiced, but not the right to face the repercussions of that. 

Well, honestly, I don’t care.  To get this far, a whole lot of us had to come out and let people know that we are gay and a whole lot of our friends had to come out and tell the world they support us.  And, we ALL faced the repercussions of that.  So, don’t tell me that the other side can’t face those same repercussions, too.  The world don’t work that way.

Even the bible tells us that you reap what you sow.

 

Everybody have a great Thursday.  Syd is off tomorrow and I’m planning to take the day, too.  After all, can’t have her enjoying herself.  As parent, it’s my responsibility to make her as un-happy as possible.

Just kidding.  She wants to go clothes shopping. 

What’s that gonna cost me?

See ya!  Lane