Heading for the Border

It was very easy to pin-baste the unquilted borders--everything smoothed out nicely and there was no unfortunate bunching, nor areas where there was too much top for the available bottom. Whew!

 

I discovered early on that the 4-patches were the weakest elements of this top, some being held together by mere threads. They would need quilting along all the seams, inside and out, to stabilize them thoroughly. Since the white thread was already on the machine, I started with a close outline outside each 4-patch.

That maroon border isn't nearly as wobbly as it appears here!

I wanted to not only stitch along all four seam lines within each 4-patch, but also stitch a N-S and E-W line from corner to corner over the entire 4-patch. Establishing a continuous East-West line would be easy, but what to do about thread color? The line would traverse over colors ranging from dark green to light pink. Should I stop and change thread every time the fabric changed? That sounded like a short trip on a fast train to Crazy Town.

I knew of a hardly-used spool in my box of specialty threads, but it's hardly-used because I don't like to use it on quilts. However! This is never going to slept under--it's a wall hanging. So there's no likelihood that little plastic thread ends are going to be poking unsuspecting sleepers. I'm talking about monofilament nylon thread:

The label is gone. I have no idea what brand this is.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to quilt with. No snapping or snarling (sounds like an ill-mannered dog, doesn't it?) and it blends with everything. Clear would've been even better, but this is what I have on hand so this is what I'm using. It's not as stiff and poke-y as I misremembered, either. It's quite soft and pliant. I'm still not going to use it on any quilts, but will keep it in mind for future wall hangings.

After quilting this line through the middle of each 4-patch border, it was time to put my thinking cap on again. Could I somehow get a continuous line connecting each 4-patch that would outline all the seams and include the N-S line? I was deep in thought over this puzzle, deep enough that The Loud noticed and commented. When I described my goal he chuckled and said, "The Seven Bridges of Königsberg". Accurate, but unhelpful.

Here's the final plan. It'll mean 64 pairs of threads to bury, but there's just no way to do what I want with an unbroken line of quilting and without double stitching some lines. It's what it's.