"Hey, c'mon, lets get going on quilting this thing!"
I've loved designing and making this quilt. Normally I can't wait to get going with the hand-quilting and finishing.
To get started with the quilt basting, I first make a list of things to stream on TV and find all the remotes (not a trivial pursuit). I make sure I have new Audible book selections downloaded and ready to start. I've bought unsalted peanuts, grapes, stick pretzels and other clean finger snacks. Tea bags are plentiful. Oh, and I check the 'fanny ribbon' supply in the downstairs bathroom...I mean, I try to think of everything that would interrupt me and hinder my progress.
(Hand-quilting the music quilt (2014) all those years ago!)
Once my creature comforts are in place, I gather my basting supplies. The best part of that particular chore is deciding which color of 'naturally sun-variegated' polyester thread to use in my basting needle. (My mom used to keep a large, clear jar of thread in a place that got direct sunlight. It was never moved or disturbed...or dusted. I saved a few spools because I thought it would be hilarious...and useful.)
My grandmother...and her posse...hand-quilted everything, their own and each others' projects. They pieced their tops themselves at home, then got together weekly at the Beulah, AL Community Senior Center, where there was always a quilt on the quilt frame!
(My grandmother, Bertie Yielding, was my quilting idol! She never met a fabric scrap she couldn't or wouldn't use. She even used 100% polyester scraps (no need for batting with those tops) from dresses she made for herself, my aunt, and me.)
I'm procrastinating with this project because for the first time in my life I don't know how to proceed. I've always thread-basted my quilts WAY more densely than ever needed. Then I would get started with those hand quilting stitches!
I only ever won hand-quilting ribbons when there was just one or two of us old-fashioned dinosaurs doing it in a show. I just liked the peace I felt after a quilting session. The thought of ten to twelve stitches per inch is a myth and harshens my buzz.
But I am coming to terms, as we all do, with worrying about whether my fingers can do it anymore. When I have not hand-quilted for a while, there's always that period of getting up to speed, getting stitches consistent again...you know the drill. I'd just start 'in-the-ditch' somewhere until things started to click.
You can hide a multitude of sins 'in-the-ditch.'
But the tiny needle, the ability to actually keep grabbing it (plus knowing I'm holding it), and trying to get 3 to 4 stitches on the needle before pulling it through is getting harder and harder. Then there's the start of arthritis and some neuropathy...
When I taught hand quilting, I was always reassuring students that it's not the size of your stitches, but the consistency that is important. I'd take their hoop a few feet away and get them to re-evaluate their efforts. The distance of 12 to 16 inches (eyes to hoop/frame) is not the normal perspective of looking at hand-quilting stitches. Just cruel! So are the quilt police counting those stitches per inch, haha.
Once students get over that initial awkwardness, the serenity and peace of the repetitive movement is so sweet. Then, there's the feeling of running a hand over the area just finished and delighting in the slight 3-D feel of the design...magical and joyful.
The feeling makes me dream that my quilt has left the 2-D, flat sensation of earth to become something else. Weird, huh. Maybe that is why quilts are roped off in public...we all want to experience that feel, that connection.
("Contentment," our 25th anniversary quilt, in Houston in 2017.)
(Excessively echo-quilted! Normally I echo between 1/4 to 1/2 inches.
Upside to echo quilting - no marking for quilting!)
I love the idea of hand-quilting a hand-applique project! I am pretty simple about it...I strive to have an unassuming background pattern that showcases the applique designs, often just diagonal cross-hatching or echo-quilting. I want the background quilting to stay in the background...not compete with the artistic elements. I outline-quilt each motif to make it pop! I most always quilt areas through each motif as well to emphasize petals, feathers, leaf veins, etc.
I even hand-quilted my husband some 'six-pack abs' a few years ago!
(OK...I think some context is in order here. Steve jokingly says "all quilts should be made from scraps and old clothes." Well...it was time to replace his old, ratty boxer shorts. I thought I'd show HIM! It was a small wall hanging I called "Boxer Rebellion." He's a good sport...he hung it in his computer cubicle at work until we moved down to Alabama 12 years ago!)
Here are a couple more pics of it...most 'cheeky' quilt I ever made!
'Butt' I diverge...
I have not ruled out quilting by checkbook. I don't really know anyone who does this desired simple, minimal custom machine quilting. And why would I try to find someone? Custom quilters are artists, and I would feel so insulting and embarrassed asking for something so simple, but well done. What's the fun of that for them to do?
An all-over, row-by-row style is perfect for my level of machine piecing but is out of the question after all this hand-applique.
I think I am going to just go for it! Longer stitches, a larger needle, snacks with more fiber, and as many magnifying glasses as I need is hopefully enough. This old dinosaur will try to get it done!
(I'll just leave an extra eight inches or so of backing all around so it can be put on a quilting machine, if necessary (and I'll start with the outline stitches around the motifs...the very edge is almost as forgiving as the ditch!)
Don't save your dream projects until you retire and 'have more time.' The more time thing is just a myth anyway. I just now turned 65 and never dreamed that some things would get harder this soon!
Don't stop stitching!
Teresa
