More work than it sounds like (or five days of quilting is enough!)

I am so glad I took days off to finish my quilts for the show.  The show is next weekend and I need to drop off on Thursday.  I thought my quilts were finished-er than I guess they were.  I probably could have gotten it all done.  Probably.  But, it would have mean being locked in the studio and doing nothing else and I'm very glad I didn't have to do that. 

On Wednesday, I finished quilting the black and brown quilt and I washed and blocked the pastel Dresden Plate quilt. 

On Thursday, I bound the blk/brn quilt and wrote out my labels.  Okay, so first, it's not just a label, it's my name, so I do take some extra time for them.  I used to use my Pfaff to embroider them, but since it's demise, I've been embroidering a bit differently.  First, I write them on paper.  That lets me center and script and erase to get it to look like I want it to.  Then, I trace it to fabric.  Then, I back it with a heavy stabilizer and using my machine and my free motion quilting skills, I sew along the lines with a heavy thread, twice.  The underlining joins the letters so I don't have a knot beginning and ending every letter.  Then, I add embellishment and a frame.  They're not the most professional things ever, but I like them better than just writing them with a sharpie.

On Friday, I made those labels and started making the bags.  Every quilt needs a storage bag and the show requires that they be dropped off in some kind of a bag or pillowcase, so I go ahead and make a nice one.  For the label on the bag, I use the same original to trace from, but those are done with sharpie.  No need to completely over-achieve.

On Saturday, I unfolded the quilt that was completely hand made and found a big black smudge on it.  Something had gotten on it while it was folded up and it left a mark.  I struggled with what to do and did a lot of blotting.  But, in the end, I had to wash and block it as well.  So, we spent Saturday with a queen sized quilt spread across the living room, drying, and threatening animals that wanted to play on it.  I didn't think to take a picture, but here's one from when it was hanging.  Rob pointed out that on a quilt that was made completely by hand, it's ironic that I made the label by machine.  Oh, well. 

And, on Sunday morning, I sewed the label on that quilt and packed everything up into this very nice little pile.  Rob will drop them off for me on Thursday. 

 

 

I'm glad I had five days.  I always get nervous showing my quilts.  It's fun to stand nearby and hear what people say about my quilts.  But, it's stressful, like sending my babies out for inspection. 

 

And, my reward was getting to make a BOM block late Saturday afternoon and I got to do  a considerable amount of work in the yard.  That helped me relax and worked out some stress from quilt shows and the office, so now I'm relaxed and ready to face the world again with a cheerful demeanor. 

 

Let's see how long it takes somebody to mess that up. 

 

Everybody have a great Monday!  Lane