Customer Quilt

This is a quilt I finished a while ago, but that I really want to share. I had just watched Myrna Fickens DVD Just do it - Freehand Design. I had also spent a play day with a fellow longarm quilter. So my head was full of new ideas. I'd had this quilt a while waiting for it's backing to come in, and I had completely forgotten what the quilt looked like, so it was a surprise when I got it out.

Somehow I had been expecting a much simpler pattern so now I had to come up with something that would fit this quilt. It's a scrappy quilt and that inspired me, scrappy quilting. I know Myrna did say not to put all the patterns on one quilt, but why not on a scrap quilt. So that's what I did. If you clock on the pictures you will get bugger images and can see some of the patterns I used.

The thread is a bright variegated so it blends in and pops up quite randomly. All the stars are unquilted so they pop up from the background. I've used a continuous line pattern. I like this as it gives a similar feel to stitch in the ditch, but with a bit more interest. It is also a lot quicker to do so I can charge a lot less for it. It is especially good for stars as it somehow seems more starry to me.

In the background I think there is some of everything. The concentric circles was a new one for me. I've tried several of these echo type patterns and I don't like any of them. This one was unintentional and I love it. It's already appeared on a couple more quilts! Funny how these things happen isn't it.

The leaves with curly bits are very much from Myrna's DVD. I've looked at the little curls other quilters do and I hadn't thought that I was accurate enough to make them delicate. However with the confidence from Myrna I gave them a go. I was pleasantly surprised. I can do it. Also if I use my normal curls in with leaves they look good too.

Something else I tried for the first time here was a rolled fern. I've done quite a few curled feathers, but not any of my spiky ones. perhaps starting with one 2" in diameter is a bit odd, but it worked. It does show how well many quilting designs scale. I could imagine this one curl on a kingsize, it would look great.

So I hope you've enjoyed taking a close look at this quilt. I hope I will be able to take some full pictures of it once the binding is on. It will also be coming up as a class at Patchwork Corner, so if you fancy making your own keep and eye on their site.

Fabric boxes

On another blog I read regularly I found a post about making fabric containers, and how time consuming it is. I have a different method which I found a lot quicker so I will try to share it with you. Having had a go at doing this in just words, I've taken time to make a sample so I could photograph it. It is easy, but quite hard to describe.

As I hadn't planned on making boxes I have had to improvise. The thickest stabiliser I had was thinner than I would like so I have used two layers. You need to cut pieces for the base and the four sides. I used 6" squares in this sample, but you can make any size you like. I find larger is easier, but see what you can come up with. Also there is no reason for the boxes to be cubes. You can use rectangles, just make sure that sides that join to each other are the same length.


Roughly zigzag the sides to the base. You can see in the picture that I am treating the two layers are one. Had I been being careful with this I would have spray basted the two layers together, but I don't worry for a test piece.

When you have made a cross use it to cut two layers of fabric that are the size of the outer edges of the cross. I actually layered it up and then felt for the edges of the cross to position the ruler. Again if I had been trying to make a great box I would have spray basted the layers together, but pins will do the job.

Now you start to form the box. Pinch two sides together at a corner. You will have a big ear of floppy fabric, this is good, it will strengthen the corner later. You now need to sew down the corner to hold the sides together. Use a straight stitch and a thread that matches the outer fabric. You will find that you have to bend the box quite a lot as you sew the seam but it will bounce back when you have finished.

Sew all four corners then fold the ears flat around the corners. The point of the ear ends up exactly in the corner. If you have an overlocker this is the time to dig it out. It will trim the top and overlock it at the same time. If you don't have an overlocker go around the top with a zigzag, then trim the top flat. Stitch around the top again with the zigzag stitch to make a really firm edge. There you go one box. My sample took me about 30 minutes and I was taking pictures as I went which does slow you down, so hopefully you should find this pretty quick too. I think with a bit pf playing you will be able to come up with lots of interesting shape boxes with this technique.

Promised Photos

I finally remembered to take my camera down with me and take some pictures. I know they don't show much, but, well, you will just have to wait to see it all. I am so thrilled with how it is going. I don't think the pictures really show how well it is going, but isn't that always the way. You will just have to take my word for it that it is much better than the last attempt. If nothing else that was so bad I never shared any pictures of it. Not even with close friends, but this one I am quite happy to show off.

I don't know how many of you will remember. I had a rather old computer. It didn't really like me doing anything with pictures including uploading them here. It had a fit if I suggested looking at a video. Well a while ago I got my new machine, and you would not believe the difference. I can now just take some pictures and upload them. It's just so easy now. I suspect it is going to take me a while to get used to how easy it is now.

Speed Quilt 2

Strangely I was just putting the binding on this quilt when I got an email asking for a picture of it. I figured I may as well finish before posting. So here is Speed Quilt 2. I guess I would call it a large single, and most people should be able to pretty much complete the sewing in one day. It is a reversible quilt as you go project, and being quick is ideal for those people you aught to give a quilt to but you know they won't really get it. As you can see mine is quite soft colours on the front and something a bit more striking on the back.

If you would like to have a go at making one there are still a couple of places on my class on the 24th June. Call Patchwork Corner to book a place as they are running the class. Alternatively you could ask your local quilt group or shop to book me to teach it there. Sorry, but if you are not in the UK you will either have a large travel bill or need to find some other groups who will also book me.

For those of you booked already, I hope this will help with picking your fabrics, the quilt will be at Patchwork Corner as of tomorrow.

Aliens

I've finally had some time to put together the other top I cut out a while ago. It's a fun quilt that one day will end up on my bed. After it has finished working. You may notice it isn't the normal aspect ratio for a quilt. I decided that I really need wider quilts with less length for our king size bed, so this one has been designed for that. It could easily be made a more traditional shape if needed.

I fell in love with this fabric as soon as I saw it but found it impossible to buy in the UK and hard in the US. So this is the result of a lot of searching, and I think I have enough left for a second quilt when I decide what else I would like to do with it. I don;t know if you will be able to see in the photograph but there are some fantastic space craft in the small print with a black background. I especially like the bus. The range is called Alien Invasion by Amy Bradley Designs, and was produced by Moda fabrics.

I guess it's time to put the border on now. I think I have just enough of the sashing fabric left.

Bugs everywhere

I've been writing up a pattern for novelty quilts today, and it inspired me to use this fabric. I just loved the bugs and lizards, and I like the idea of a couple of novelty bed quilts. This will be the center panel of a large double bed quilt. I want to tone things down a little bit on the sides. It isn't clear in the picture just how bright these fabrics are. Think real primary colours. Fro the sides I think I will just some black fabric with bright paw prints on it. I also have a little of the green and blue fabrics left which should contrast well with the black.

I will produce this as a pattern for a single bed quilt and possible a child's lap/floor quilt too. I think it would be great for all sorts of novelty prints. Once I have this one done I think I will start on my aliens quilt, which will be a similar that will use panels as well as the large print fabrics. That will be a somewhat more subdued quilt. The fabric isn't anywhere near as bright.

I want to move on

I am getting really keen now to finish the work for my show so I can move on and try new things. Is that a bad thing? I feel I aught to be more caught up in what I am doing but I've got two ideas I really want to work on and right now that feels the most important thing creatively. Fortunately my head does have control and I will finish my cows.

I wish I could remember who's blog started off this need to do something different. I read something somewhere about Chuck Close. I hadn't heard the name but I recognised the work when I checked the site. It's interesting, but not quite to my tastes. However I can see ways the ideas nearly meet what I do, and I want to explore that area. I think it could be fun even if it isn't successful.

I've also, probably are a result of this and some lamp posts, had ideas for the Sandown theme for this year. Going Around in Circles. I don't know if that idea will work either, and it will involve some very interesting maths or good construction drawing. Once I start on it I am quite certain it will absorb me fro a while. So it's got to wait, and I don't like waiting...

I just had to share.

I have been trying to keep quiet about what I am working on to make to show as fresh as I can, but it makes blogging very hard. Today I can't resist, and this is a very small part of the whole quilt. I have spent about five hours working on this. For a lot of the time it really didn't look like much. Suddenly it came together and I have a cow.

Yay sky.

Well my metre long 'manageable' pieces have finally come together and made a sky. I know that doesn't sound terribly impressive, but I am pleased with it. I think it is about a third of the quilt finished. It's quilted and everything. So tomorrow I can get on with what I think is the interesting bit. Of course being rather large this is another piece I won't get to see until it is pretty much finished. Really the first good look I will get will be when I hang the show. I hope the picture in my head is right. Yes it is a bit nerve wracking, but I just don't have anywhere I can hang it to check while I work. I just have to go with blind faith right now. I wonder if having a large design wall would change how I work, and if it did would it change my work?

It's that time of year again

Why is it that this is the time of year I have to make a new nude. For some reason it just has to come out now and can't wait any longer. This time I have two that are nagging me so this is just the first I hope. This piece has been building slowly for a while. I had the image I wanted to use, I love the shapes in this, but I couldn't quite see how to get the focus where I wanted it. I've played with a lot of different crops and light effects, and this is what I have ended up with.

The colour of this one also caused me some problems, I knew what it felt like to me but somehow none of the colours was conveying that. This group came about when I was looking for something else, but had the life and zing I wanted so finally I was able to get this one into fabric. The quilting will probably have to wait a few days so I can have a go at the other design I have ready to go. I don't want to wait too long though as I have changed how I have assembled this one, and it is only held with temporary products. Once I have quilted it it won't need anything and I am hoping that this method will give me a softer finish. Alternatively it will all fall apart before I get is finished and be a complete nightmare.

My final dilemma is the title of this piece. I thought it was going to be called Dance, but I think that might be a bit flat. Flamenco has been suggested as an alternative, which seems pretty good, but the quilt is refusing to tell me which it prefers. There is a poll to the right if you would like to tell me what it says to you.

Lily

OK, as promised here is a photograph of the latest picture on the frame. It is being built in four parts, so there is a black line between the first two parts you see here. The parts are also not aligned properly yet. This is just how they landed on the backing.


Believe it or not this is the first good look I have had at this piece too. It's quite possible you are only a few minutes after me. Weird isn't it. I can only see about one third of this at any given moment. So while I am working it seems very abstract. When I am quilting I am looking at the source image to check where the lines need to be as they have to show the shape of the petal. Sometimes it is easy to tell from the change of colours, sometimes I have to make it up as I go along.

I've also found that when I work on these large pieces I find it very hard to follow what the design is. It seems to be worse the more I enlarge and image. In this case the dots looked really strange when I was placing them and quilting them. They are up to about half an inch in diameter, so they are pretty big. Far too big I thought, until I saw the photo here.

For the longarm quilters here is a geeky fact, this quilt is going from the takeup roller to the top roller. I decided I wanted this to roll right side out and my takeup roller doesn't wind that way, so I am working backwards. It seem to work pretty well as the panels are only about 30" square. Obviously this won't work on big quilts, but for a pictorial piece working from the bottom up does often make a lot more sense.

Woo hoo, the editing window seems to have been fixed somewhat since earlier today. Thanks blogger.

Lily

I wish I hadn't called this piece Lily. The word looks funny. I know it
is just me but the shape seems wrong and it annoys me every time I type
it. On the other hand it does completely cover what I am working on
right now. It is a large pictorial piece which I love doing, I am
making it completely on the longarm again. It makes me wonder if at some
point I will go back to trying paint. After all what I am doing is just
painting with fabric and some of the things I find tricky with cloth
would be easier with paint. On the other hand some things that are easy
with fabric are harder with paint, so I guess it works out. It is
frustrating though not being able to see how it is building. I can only
see a band of the quilt at any moment. I have to just put faith in my
marking and carry on. This one is taking a surprising amount of fabric
too, so I am a little concerned I may run out. That would be quite inconvenient.

If I can unroll enough to make sense later I will try and get some pictures, if nothing else I want to see it.

What
do other people think of the new blogger interface for posting? I am
finding it very hard to read when I spell check. I would like to see
more suggestions for misspellings as it often misses simple typos so
you now have to quit the spell checker, look for the word which moves
when the font changes and then type it correctly. Am I the only one
that keep finding the typos it doesn't understand? I am also finding some spaces vanish when shifting between the two modes, anyone else?

Another one ready to bind

I've just blocked my small wholecloth quilt, so when it is dry I will be able to get it bound. I am thrilled it is finished as it has been on and off the frame a few times. It was my first attempt at a wholecloth, and at times looked very unpromising. It has definitely been one of those quilts that looks better with more quilting on it. You wouldn't think such a small quilt could take so long and cause so much concern. You can see why I am glad it is pinned up drying. Now I need to get the seat of the chair onto the frame. No rest this time of year.

Chair 1

It is that time of year again. The next show on my horizon is the Festival of Quilts at the NEC and I can play with some of my more wacky ideas. I love this show as it has a category for everything. I really can go to town. Even better it uses collection depot, so I deliver a piece by hand to a courier who takes it to Birmingham, the cost isn't related to the size or weight of the piece. This is so wonderful. Maybe it won't sound so great to those of you in the USA but over here postage is very expensive and a lot of my work is effectively censored by what I can ship. The first question Thargol asked last night when he saw this was 'How are you going to ship it?".

Anyway, to the quilting. The chair is entirely self supporting and will effectively be four quilts. The back sides and arms are made from two quilts (one the inside of the chair the other the outside) and the same for the seat. The first picture shows a close up of the wood grain I've quilted on all the fabric I will use. I have just one layer of a thin wadding under the grain. Just enough for it to have some depth. I have had to quilt some face grain and some end grain as there will be places where you can see the end of the wood.

The design is based on cardboard chairs that slot together. I did think about leaving this one just slotted into place but I think it will be stronger and neater if I stitch all the joins into place. It will mean a fair amount of quite tricky hand sewing. Just what I always wanted. I've also taken inspiration from old furniture I have seen. I am thinking about the pieces made from planks joined then carved, where you can still clearly see the planks. I like the way they look like they have just used what was to hand. The planks are often different widths an sometimes even thicknesses. The real thing does have tones of character, so of which I would like to capture in this. I am concerned that the judges won't understand what I was after and will feel that the planks should all be the same width, so I have made them very obviously different in the hopes it will be clear it was a deliberate design decision. Keep your fingers crossed for me with that one.

In the second picture you can see a close up of the 'carving' on the back of the chair. It has been sprayed with water to remove the various wash away products on it. I love the look of the wet fabric, it did look even more woody. I don't think it entirely comes across in the photograph though.

Lastly this is the outer skin of the chair, standing up on it's own. Only one of the arms is in it's correct position, but you can see why I need the end grain. It isn't a full size chair, I thought for my first attempt a scale model or child size would be more sensible. See just sometimes I can make life a little easier for myself. I guess the back stands about 30" tall. I Obviously have quite a lot more work to do on this piece but I just had to share it. I am so excited that it does seem to be working. To me it was very important to just use textiles to make the structure. Several people have pointed out that I could put boards in between the quilts to keep things solid, but then it isn't really a fabric chair anymore is it. This is partly caused by the 3D textiles course I did earlier this year. I was disappointed to find some of the pieces were stuffed with bubble wrap to keep them in shape, and at that point decided I wanted to find ways to make the fabric do it on it's own. I did consider things like starch and other stiffeners, but it looks like I can avoid them, which for me is perfect. Keep watching, over the next month there will be plenty more wacky stuff appearing here.

Sandown Photographs

I've finally had time to look at my pictures and to take advice on what I can and cannot do with the pictures I took at the show. I can't show pictures of other peoples quilts, unless they choose to send me them, which is a shame as I have pictures of most of the award winners and many of the others as well. On the other hand if you had a quilt in the show and would like my pictures of it, do let me know I will be happy to give a copy to the owner of the quilt.

pictures of the patchwork corner stand as well but I forgot, sorry. I'll start with the two that didn't win awards. This will probably be my last picture of Che as he has now gone to his new owner. He seemed to be very popular with the visitors to the show, which surprised me. I didn't expect I am however safe to put up pictures of my own work from the show, so that is what I will do. I did mean to take such acceptance of him, but I am thrilled by it.

'Tropical Punch" was seriously out classed in it;s theme category. The standard of work in the Batik Beauties category was stunning. There were two quilts there I would have loved to bring home. I was especially keen on the second place quilt, with it's huge leaves. I like the fact that the quilting changed colour to match the fabrics, the effect was stunning. I can't find my show guide right now to check who's it was, sorry. On the subject of show guides, the artists statement. I spend hours fiddling with my statements to get them down to the word count, I think it was 30 words for this guide, yet many of them are far longer. The longest I found was well over 100 words. So am I being stupid editing mine down to the limit. Often there is a lot more I would like to say but I don't because the rules say 30 words, yet they happily put in much longer statements. Any suggestions?

As you can see I still failed to get a good shot of the whole of 'Tropical Punch'. I think this time it was entirely human error. It looks to me like I wasn't holding the camera still. You would think that would be something I had learned a long while ago, but no I keep making that particular mistake. Still it probably gives you an idea of what was going on.

The close up pictures seem to have done a bit better. This first one shows one of the upper glasses. The background quilting on these was in a red-yellow variegated thread. I was thinking about the sunsets I saw in Cuba. They were red and orange and sort of spiky at the edges. There was often thin bands of cloud and the ends of them looked a lot like horizontal flames.

I guess I should mention that these are entirely pieced, I had a lot of people ask if the straw was applique, but no it isn't. The whole things is done by free cutting and then shuffling the pieces to get the different colours in the various places. The cutting did take a lot of thought to get the details I wanted, but the design came to me as soon as I read the entry form some months ago. I like the pieces that come to me complete. The parasol and wedges of fruit have their details quilted, with a silver metallic thread. I also used silver to quilt the crushed ice in the cocktails. Of course I was forced to go to a cocktail bar to research the look of crushed ice. It helped add detail to the glasses.

At one stage I had considered putting applique leaves around the border. I gave up that idea as too over the top for the design, I wanted something more subtle. I settled on quilting the leaves on in a variegated thread. they do slightly overlap the panels, as though you are looking through vegetation. If I were doing it again I think I would want to find a way to make the leaves more distinct. I still don't think applique is the answer, but maybe some way of making the quilting stronger. Thicker thread, double threads or maybe even bobbin work. Who knows, but I doubt it will come up again so it is rather academic.

HI, I haven't forgotten you all

I came back from the show on Sunday and settled straight down to working on finishing my NEC entries. That is a good thing, given how soon they need to be ready but at the same time it means I haven't even uploaded my pictures from the show yet.

I have quilted large amounts of wood grain. I was practicing it while demonstrating the Sapphire at Sandown. It has come up pretty well on the real fabric, so I am happy with that. I have just finished the carving design I want to add to my 'wood'. I just need to work out how to mark it on. I might try sewing it with wash away thread from the wrong side. I think that will be the easiest option. I've also got the design for my small traditional quilt finalised, so as soon as the wood is off the frame that can go on.

I've had a demand for money from DHL so I need to write to them, that will be fun won't it. I am amazed they think I should pay for them failing to deliver my quilts. I also came home to a request to write an article about me for Unlimited Possibilities magazine. It is very exciting and I am thrilled to have been asked, but at the same time it will require a lot of thought and care. They have given me a set of questions to work from which will help a lot, and they can edit it down if I send them too much. Of course I also need to think about pictures to send them. Eeek. Glad I remembered to renew my subscription.

Why is it everything always happens at once?

Wow!

Some days things do seem to be coming together. I took my Houston entry forms to Mail Box Etc to try out the FedEx next day delivery service. I like the idea that if they don't deliver I don't pay. Although I have just realised that I didn't manage to get a copy of the terms and conditions. I did ask but there were other customers distracting me and the staff member, I'll go back tomorrow and see if I can get them. Anyway I went in and they offered me somewhere to sit and fill in the forms, which I thought was very nice. I got most of the form filled in but I didn't have a phone number for the recipient. I asked if it was required and he said yes it was essential, they couldn't accept the shipment without it. Before I had a chance to say anything else he offered to look it up for me. What a difference. It was certainly a lot easier than booking a DHL collection and filling in their paperwork. Now I just have to wait and see if it gets there. I checked earlier and it was making progress, but having just checked it is stuck at Stansted with a delay beyond their control. Oh well maybe it is something about me, I can get even simple packages stuck.

I followed this up with delivering my new patterns. It is official, I will be launching my first pattern at the National Quilt Championships Sandown. It will be for sale at the Patchwork Corner stand. Somehow along the lines I also volunteered to demonstrate the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire, so if you are coming to the show, please pop by and say hello. I was really pleased that the patterns passed inspection, it is very similar to the first time I put a quilt into a show. I guess it is all a matter of sending your creations out into the world to fend for themselves. I am quite looking forward to spending the whole weekends at the show and meeting lots of new people. I am sure it will be very tiring, but hopefully it will be fun too.

I've finally finished squaring up the 204 blocks of Splash of Darkness, and I should have it on the frame tomorrow. I even think I have decided how I am going to quilt it, of course it may change once I get it on the frame, quilts seem to get more chatty once they are loaded.

I take a night off and work happens!

I spent tonight at a concert. I don't go to so many now, so they are even more of a treat when they do come up. I tend to only go to bands I know will put on a good show, I don;t have time to waste (let alone money) on those who are more variable in quality. Tonight was Motley Crue, who I love going to see. It is a very high energy show and I always leave feeling better, more alive and usually inspired.

Strangely it was the support band that provided most of the inspiration this time. I wasn't looking forward to them at all, Papa Roach didn't sound like my sort of band at all, but actually their newer material was pretty good. Their older songs really weren't to my tastes but they didn't play too much of that. They did give me an idea of a male nude. I have been thinking about it for some time now but I find men are harder to show in ways that speak to me. Sorry but most male nudes are somewhat untidy to my eye. I have nothing against the male form, it just isn't an neatly beautiful as women. The lead singer of Papa Roach mostly wasn't that exciting, but just sometimes the light on his arms was fantastic. I think I know what aspects of it made it work for me, and I think I have someone who could model for me. If I can make it work I will be thrilled.

They also sang a song dedicated to people from broken homes. After the song the singer said that believed that anything that doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and that he was proud of who he has become. It reminded me that I have a series and a one off that I need to make on that kind of theme, and I think I now have the skills I need to make them work. I think I will dig out the fabrics and bag up those projects next time I need a break.

It was good to see Motley Crue, I always wonder if the concert will be the last time I see Mick playing, and it seems that he plays each as if it were his last. He is still a great guitarist, and I do love watching him, even if I did need my binoculars to do it this time. Unfortunately Tommy Lee wasn't able to play, he has injured his shoulder. Whilst I felt sorry for him having to sit out the concert which he obviously wanted to be involved in, I felt even more sorry for his stand in. Can you imagine having to perform in place of someone with that big a personality, in front of their fans with them coaching you from the sidelines. Not my idea of fun, even if the idea of playing with the band is. It was a fantastic show, and they did a good job of the sound mixing. Sadly a lot of rock bands don't seem to be able to do that and it spoils a lot of concerts. I loved the flames, flares and pyrotechnics, just what you need on a hot day in a hot venue, we must be mad.

Having showered and changed, I've managed to get my Houston entry forms done, the photos are OK, they could be better but Decadence really didn't want to play ball having been rolled up for two weeks. Hopefully it will be good enough to show the concept to the jury. Then when I logged on to update my show spreadsheet I found that another of my secret projects is about to become a lot less secret. In the next day or so the pattern for 'By the Hearth' should appear on the Makower web site. It's obviously my week for publishing patterns. It is a pattern for a life size fireplace, complete with candles, Christmas cards, presents, stockings and of course a cat. It will also be published later this year in Popular Patchwork. It was a fun project to work on, I just wish I could have shared it at the time.

Yay, another milestone hit

By the skin of our teeth we got the first batch of my first pattern printed today. I am so thrilled. If things go according to plan I hope it will be available it Sandown in two weeks time. It shouldn't be a big deal but it has been a long time in the planning. I have three other patterns ready to be typeset, proofed and then printed, which hopefully will be easier now we have done one.

I have started looking for some online shop software. We had planned to write our own, we are a household of software engineers after all, but really there is too much other work to do. So if you have software you would recommend I would be very interested to hear about it. As well as my own pattern I have the Turning Twenty, Turning Twenty Again and Turning Twenty around the block patterns for sale. If you want to order anything before we get the online shopping working use the contact me link and I will be happy to sort out manually.

I've also sent another secret squirrel off to it's owner, which is always nice, it will be secret for a bit longer, sorry. Other than that I have just finished my first ever bias binding on a quilt. Yes it has curved edges, and it went pretty well. I don't think it is something I want to be doing too often though.

Pretty in Pink - back

I think the back shows better why I am so pleased with this quilt. Of course it was also harder to take pictures of. the backing is actually a pale pink with a sort of paisley pattern. I hope that the back looking good and being a little more subtle will extend the quilts life. It could be used this way up for an adult quite easily.

There are a few areas with slightly larger gaps than other areas but not many and mostly in places dictated by the design. I think the overall effect is pretty regular. The stitches also look pretty even, I don't have stitch regulation, so I have to try and move smoothly. It's surprising as I thought I was quite tense when I started the quilting, but it doesn't seem to show. Maybe I actually quilt better more tense?

When I started the project I was planning on putting quite open quilting on this piece. I didn't want to push the cost up with a lot of machine work. It didn't quite work out that way, but in hind sight I think that is probably a good thing. When I do Linus quilts I tend to put more quilting on the quilts for boys or younger children, on the grounds that they will be loved a lot and need every chance going to stay in one piece. It also occurred to me that this is a potential heirloom, it may be around in a hundred plus years and if it is will give a snapshot of this family at this time. It's a nice thought and one I considered a lot finishing the quilting. This quilt got the quilting it wanted, and I think it knew better than me.

I just hope I can do as good a job on the bed quilt I am putting into Sandown. It's getting very close (I am hand delivering so I have a bit longer) and I still can't decided what I want to do on it. I am hoping it will start talking to me really soon. If not I guess I start winging it and hope it gets chatty as I go, right?