Busy Fortnight

It's been 2+ weeks since my last post, a quarter of which was stolen away from me by flu--the old-fashioned kind that requires a clear path to the toilet at all times, and a bucket in hand! It seemed to be a 72-hour bug and I'm back to my old self now.

Winding Ways went from a gleam to a finish in these past 16 days! Before being felled, I had added borders (finding the perfect fabric in the CF!Q legacy stash, as I'd hoped), made a back from the blue dot fabric that didn't work in the front (including a couple more FQs from the CF!Q stash), sandwiched the lot and outline-quilted all the inner blocks. Contrary to all teachings and advice from time immemorial, I made the borders to the size the blocks should measure, not what reality might dictate. As a result, the sandwiching involved quite a bit of careful pulling and close pinning so nothing shifted.

Using my DSM Brother Quilt Club 1300 and its walking foot, I carefully stitched just alongside every seam in the quilt's center. As it turned out, the broken foot worked to my advantage, in that I could see the seam lines easily, yet still have enough of an edge (up by the needle) to keep the spacing consistent.

Slightly off-kilter to better show the broken-off section.

But just as I was ready to tackle the 4-patch outermost border, I was felled and didn't get back to things until late last week.

Nothing fancy in the 4-patches--a simple alternating loop running from dark block to dark block (using navy thread), then the same idea using off-white in the light blocks.

It was the penultimate border that was going to need the most "quilting out". I was pleased with this pattern's approach to creating interlocking circles (just like the Winding Ways blocks) . . .

. . . and discovered that a 1-cup Pyrex bowl, coupled with a dull marking pencil, makes the perfect 8" template!

This border was also quilted on my Brother, as I have better control with the feed dogs raised and helping me along.

Ta Da!

56" x 64"

The Supporting Players:

Bobbin                Light fabrics       Dark fabrics

The back fabrics:

How perfect is that circle fabric?!?!?

The quilting:

Because the bobbin thread is variegated, the dark sections 'disappear'. But they're there!

The binding came from a scrap in the CF!Q stash that was 100" long by roughly 9" wide. It provided three lengths of 2" widths (enough for the perimeter) and a final length of 2.5" width to add to that bin. Perfect usage, to the last thread.

At some point between quilting sessions on my Brother, I heeded Bonnie Hunter's advice and took a gander at the bottom of that hard-working machine.

The fact that lint was trailing out of the first hole I exposed did not bode well to my way of thinking!

It was a fair harbinger:

Photo named "Yikes".

"Yikes Close". 'Nuf said.

Lots of careful grabbing, brushing, picking, scraping (the crap out of the gear teeth on the right), and turning of wheels to get this all cleared out. When I'd done my best, a final blast or two with some canned air got the final bits. Wowzers!

Today after the photo op with The Loud and Winding Ways, I sandwiched another flimsy! I first had to build the back, but I'd already pulled the fabric for that and it was quickly accomplished this morning. The batt had been Franken'ed last month from several large scraps of white batting that came home with me from the Community First! Quilters' Retreat back in April, where I finished the reconstruction of the flimsy.

Have coffee, will travel. That's the Brother whose guts have been exposed in the photos above.

Basting! YAY!

Surrounding me is the influx of the newest donation of fabrics, this time from a hoarding quilter.

Compared to the Winding Ways top, the basting on this one is minimal. The nice thing about batiks is, they're fairly shiftless (how's that for a surprising positive spin on a usually-negative attribute?) so I'm not worried about things going wonky while I quilt.

I'm considering an overall edge-to-edge done in a light green variegated King Tut thread--Date Palm--I bought using my "Thank You for making the retreat happen!" gift card. Early days yet--I still have no idea what the overall quilt design might be. But given my experience with a light gray thread, I think this might be a great little blender.

And finally ("FINALLY!!!" I hear you say), I got some disheartening news today. The quilt shop at which CF!Q meets 2 of every 3 months, and where we store our stash, is going out of business. The owner is selling the building and retiring with her husband to Colorado at the end of this month. This is her with her brand-new banner, thanking her for the 10 years of support.

My block is upper right.

Our fearless leader is scrambling to find new housing for our many bins (soon to be augmented by the many bins surrounding my dining room!) and for our butts-in-seats monthly business/Show 'n' Tell meetings.

Thread and notions going for 50% off....

Hmmmmm....