In the Studio

I finally attacked a big job that had been waiting for me to get on with it for quite some time. Tacking a large quilt is never an easy task but I had run out of excuses not to do it so on Tuesday I put out 3 plastering tables in one of the old cottage rooms, spread out my backing fabric, followed by the wadding (batting in US speak) and finally the finished quilt top and proceeded to tack them all together with safety pins. In the end it only took the morning although my back certainly knew I had done it!

From there the whole lot was carried into my studio and I proceeded to quilt it, using the unconventional method of satin stitching to do so. This proved to be serious hard work. People tend to think that quilting is a gentle art but manipulating a large (77" square) quilt beneath a domestic sewing machine takes muscle and perseverance. However I put the pedal to the metal and for the rest of Tuesday, the whole of Wednesday and today the continuous sound of machine stitching could be heard coming from my studio.

To my constant studio companion this acts as a soothing lullaby and he snoozes away while I stitch. I recently bought him a luxurious bed to lounge on under my desk and he's very pleased with it. However, as soon as the noise of the machine stops he pops up from beneath the desk with an inquisitive face to see if that means a walk is on the agenda!

There is lots more to be done on the quilt but at least it's now completely stabilized and held together with the bare bones of the quilting and from now on free machining is on the agenda. That will be done in more gentle stages and I'm looking forward to that part of the proceedings as I'm sure, is Rueben.