She's a strong little worker (the Mantis tiller, I mean), and makes the dirt look like sifted flour ! And considering the workout that she gave my arms, I may just get a little strong myself ! This Fall I hope to rework several of my flower beds and I have bushes on order with Michigan Bulb, and of course, I still have 2 lilacs and 2 rhododendrons and 2 azaleas to put out ! That's a lot of digging !
The quilt top took me 2 full hours to baste by myself, but could I have any more beautiful surroundings and conditions in which to get it done? The wind was still, the temperature, beginning around 9 a.m., was around 72 degrees with the sun shining down. I am so happy on this little acre of land where the LORD has chosen to bless us !
I am now quilting this quilt with the walking foot, using my 28 year old White sewing machine. I only got it out of the closet because I wanted to use the triple zigzag for quilting. You know, the stitch that goes 3 stitches to the right and then 3 to the left? But then I saw that you can't use my walking foot while doing a zigzag stitch......DUH !
I'm following the seams of the quilt, but instead of quilting in the ditch, I'm actually stitching on top of the seam allowance that is pressed to the side. I'm doing this because the white fabric that I used was a great price for 90 inch wide fabric, but turned out to be a very low thread count which wants to fray very easily. Stitching on top of the seam allowances will hopefully 'bind' them in place where they can't fray away to nothing. I've made so many rookie mistakes with this quilt, it's just not funny. I meant to cut away from behind the appliqued flowers, because you can see the stem behind the yellow one. But I totally forgot until I already had it partially basted and noticed it.
Knowing that the white fabric's longevity was questionable, I decided to buy quilt light polyester batting, rather than my favorite cotton/poly mix........no need to make this a large investment. So, this quilt is going to be a pretty, lightweight quilt that I hopefully will just use until it falls apart.
Beautiful little acre of land. I'm impressed that you could baste that in just two hours, although it sounds like it was a lovely morning for doing so.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen quilting frames like that since I used to quilt with the McKinley County Quilters in Gallup.
Yes, you have beautiful settings for your baste time. I bet the frame makes it easier to pin than crawling around on the floor! Mistakes are normal, don't feel too bad. You will notice some of those things so much more than anyone else. I like to use that zigzag stitch, too, I have it on my Bernina.
ReplyDeleteYou are going to have big rewards with your extra tilling work in the garden ~
:-}pokey