Saturday, December 8, 2018

Quilting to Plan and Planning to Quilt

Although I still don’t have a quilt finish to share, I’m getting closer. One Cousin Kim and I basted All You Need is Love on Wednesday, I began the quilting process on Thursday.

Here’s a picture of the top again so you will understand what I’m referencing.


The thread I’m using is a barely-there pale green cotton. It’s so pale that it looks almost white on the front.  So, on Thursday I started out by quilting the center panel with a basic stipple. 

Then I switched to a dark blue thread and quilted the navy border around the center panel with lines. They’re not visible, so I didn’t take a picture. And I quilted wavy lines in the dark floral borders in the top and bottom final border, also not visible. 

On Friday I tackled the yellow flying geese that surround the center panel. After searching for some simple ideas, I settled on this pattern. It was tricky to do because I didn’t want to wrestle with the quilt by continually changing directions and pulling its bulk around under the machine. So some of these motifs were stitched while I was looking at them upside down or sideways, although they all came out the same on the geese. My best motifs actually came out while I was stitching them upside down! I’ll thank you not to laugh at that.


After that, I tackled the next round, which consisted of the lollipop and friendship star motifs. By that time, simple was sounding real nice, so I just went with loops.


And here is how the front looks so far. I know, I know; it’s hard to see the quilting.


And here is the back. The thread matches the back wonderfully.


So, today I’ll continue. I think I’m just going to ignore the little checkerboard round since it’s only two inches. I’ll switch to pink thread and first go back to stitch in the solid pink border between the flying geese and the next round. Then I’ll tackle the pink hearts. 

My goal is to finish the quilting today so that I can trim it up and sew the bright pink binding together. Then I can bind, launder and photograph it on Sunday and get it packed and mailed on Monday. At least that’s the plan. 

I’m also participating in Bonnie Hunter’s Good Fortune Mystery Quilt-Along, and have the Clue 3 pieces to start on this week. And I’m trying to make a decision on what quilt to finish up next. Right now it’s a toss-up between turning all my selvage blocks into not one, but TWO finished quilts (and I’ve already pulled the sashing fabric) OR to start sewing together the Birds in the Lattice quilt blocks. There should be a third choice in there - a quilt that I need to start and finish before we go on vacation to Arizona in February. I’ll introduce that one in the next week or two....

Linking up to Angela’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge 
and Cynthia’s Oh Scrap!

13 comments:

  1. Such a fun quilt! Love the flying geese motifs. Even the upside down ones!

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  2. I love how you're changing up the quilting to fit the different sections of the quilt! It's going to be beautiful, Cathy!

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  3. You are doing a great job on getting that quilting finished!! Good luck on choosing what to finish next... after this one is done. :o))

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  4. I love all the fun quilting! The thread does match the back perfectly! I love colors like that. Happy quilting. It's such a happy quilt. Holy cow... the reCAPTCHA for this post was like trying to get into Fort Knox, but I was persistent...

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  5. I'm too busy being impressed with your quilting to laugh at your upside down geese motifs. (I'm still struggling with the first baby steps of FMQ and stick to walking foot straight(ish) lines!)

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  6. Your quilting looks lovely--I must admit, I did stifle a little chuckle at your success in upside-down quilting..funny how our minds work, isn't it?
    I am continuing my S L O W D O W N seasonal quilting...just my
    ("Poor Butterfly-y-y, neath the blossoms waiting...")
    little butterfly in the works...not even a glimmer of an idea...ye olde brain already went on vacation for the Holidays I guess...hugs, Julierose

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  7. I keep looking at the flying geese motif trying to figure out your path to keep it an continuous. Anyway, I applaud your effort to do different motifs in each border.
    Pat

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  8. Hi Cathy! I have a theory on the upside down quilting and why it may have been easier. I think it's because you can actually see what you're stitching! Usually the machine blocks our view! Nice job on the quilting and I love how you described what you did in each area. I hope you enjoy your Sunday. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  9. Such a charming quilt, made even better by the special quilting for each round!

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  10. How do you know if a flying goose is upside down? Maybe it was just flying north for the summer. Glad to see that your quilting is coming along so nicely! :)

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  11. Some people subscribe to the theory that if you're having trouble drawing something you should try working upside down (the work, not you!). Don't know as it works, but by what you've done I think it must.

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  12. What a fun colorful quilt. I love all the block designs you used. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

    Your quilting is lovely by the way :)

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  13. I love everything about this quilt!!! And I agree with you - all you need is love. Bright pink binding is symbolic of love and will be just perfect.

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