I decided to finish the smallest piece first. This one is just under 28" square. It is hard to tell but the binding is a deep toned red/purple. It blended in nicely with all of the edge fabrics
I have 40" left to hand stitch on this binding. Tomorrow will be reorganization day to see what I want to accomplish in the next 10 day period.
Yesterday was the twice monthly sew-in so I took this quilt with me to work on the hand sewing part of the binding. I got almost 2 sides done there. I came home and watched the first episode of season 5 of Downton Abbey and finished it.
I matched the print when I sewed the seam on the backing and it is hardly visible at all.
Then while watching the news and weather I sewed the binding on this small piece and got 1 1/2 sides hand sewn. I hope I can finish the binding on this one and the batik one by Saturday night to have 4 finishes in the first 10 days of January. Then I will be ready for round 2.
A blogging friend, Donaleen, shared with me some of her Liberty Lawn fabrics, some already cut in 2" squares. I made this little top in December and offered it to her. She in turn offered to hand quilt it for me and send it back. I got it in the mail today and got the binding on and hand stitched last night. It is a little under 19" square. I'm going to be looking for a place to hang it today. Be sure to click on her name and check out her blog. She is like me, a camera in hand a lot of the time.
I got the binding sewn onto this quilt too but haven't started the hand sewing. This one is 62" x 77". I did stitch one more side of the binding on the batik quilt though.
Since this quilt was loaded on my longarm I quilted it before noon. It is wavy lines with occasional loops going the length of the quilt.
I cut the binding right away and sewed it on last night and started the hand stitching.
Then in the afternoon I loaded this quilt and quilted it too. I did random lines not intended to be straight but not wavy either. Picture me walking sideways as I guide the machine head the entire length of the quilt. Wobbles happen and I like the look.
You can get a better idea from the back. The perfectionist quilters are cringing right now.... I like casual quilting, not formal quilting. This is a fun quilt and it needed fun quilting, not perfectly executed motifs.
My choice for the binding is a Kaffe yarn dyed stripe fabric.
Then last night while watching TV I quilted this small colorwash piece. I have been using this one as a sample in classes for about 5 years. I used monofilament thread and ditch quilted it.
Since the backing was multicolor I used a variegated thread in the bobbin.
It was easy to get a lot done yesterday because it was below 0 yesterday morning, stayed in the single digits all day and there was 3" of snow overnight. Other than shoveling my sidewalk and porch, I was inside all day.
While sorting through 3 bins that had miscellaneous in them, I found most of my Indian batiks. I have 4 more that I found after I took this photo. I have an international series of quilts in progress with the African quilt, Australian TAW and the Keiko Goke Japanese TAW. I don't know what pattern I want to use for these since the design is large in most of them. I will store them all together this time so when I'm ready to use them I can find all of them.
I got two backings pressed and sewn together yesterday. I even matched the pattern on the zig zag one I showed yesterday morning. I loaded the blue batik backing on the longarm so I'm ready to thread the machine and start stitching.
I finally did my first sewing in the new year. I made the large strata at the left. I put the leftover strata for the 40" top on there for comparison. This bigger quilt will be 105" long. I have enough people for a January Trip Around the World class so I need 2 stratas to use for demo purposes. I also have a February class so I'll use more of the stratas of the larger quilt in that class too. There are 5 stratas altogether for it.
I looked through my Brandon Mably fabrics for alternate pieces for backing for this quilt. This was the first one I tried.
Then I found this one and it is my choice. Now the quilt could be for a male or female recipient.
I also chose this batik for the back of this Stack and Slash quilt. I had already cut the batting so it will probably be the first one to go on the longarm. I also cut backings for 2 of the other quilts. Now I have a lot of pressing to do and then the long seam in the back.
I'm trying to do it right this time, all the way, not just half way done. The left side of the fruit cellar is done. You can see that it is a narrow room and 14' long. This is approximately 6' of it. I put the batting rolls up on 2 cement blocks that were in there. My son stopped by and I sent a bunch of stuff home with him that had been stored here. I still have a little work to do on the right end of the room.
While everything was still out where I could see it I decided to choose some backings to pair with tops. This is the first one. I have had that backing fabric for probably 30 years and I think it looks great with that top.
This Jane Sassaman print looks great with the X and+ quilt top.
I'm not positive about this one but I think it will work.
I'm undecided if I should put a floral backing on this one. I don't want all of my quilts to only be matches for women. This top could be masculine too so I might keep looking.
I had a regular quilting cotton chosen for the back of this 16 patch but since the top is all batik, I would rather have a batik backing. The 2 darker blues would have to be used together since there isn't enough of either one for the whole back.
This one is navy and white and I think it brightens the quilt. Also there is enough of it for the whole back. I think I will use it.
Hopefully I'll actually sew something tonight while I watch TV.
