It's not that I haven't been doing anything, but for some reason, I just haven't had the oomph to post anything lately. Guess I've been too busy catching up on e-mails, making travel plans and the like. I felt myself losing a bit of sanity so decided I had to get back to my old routine of studio time in the a.m., and regular life stuff in the afternoon. It really did make me feel better, and as I laid out Irish Eyes for basting, I actually felt like I was working again, even though this step is that part of the process I refer to as grunt work. Sometimes grunt work is ok. I felt so competent (unlike how I sometimes feel during the design process), have done this so many times that it just happens without a lot of thought.
Then it was time to quilt. I banished any guilt about stitching in the ditch with monofilament thread, loaded the CD player with "Yes" discs, and stitched away. It really did make me realize how pressured I've felt to free-motion quilt with decorative thread, even though I often prefer this more utilitarian and supportive style of quilting. There are pieces where I want the quilting to be more in your face, but I guess the pendulum has swung so far that direction in the quilting world, I felt obligated to keep up or be left behind. Frankly, I see many quilts now where the quilting really is the main emphasis and I don't like the way it takes over the design. Call this my little rebellion and a retreat into my comfort zone. Walking foot users unite!
I'm down to quilting shamrocks in the square-on-points. If you click on the picture for a larger view, you can see that I quilted the Cathedral Window arcs in the border using a (gasp!) colored cotton thread. That's an Oliver Twist hand-dyed 50 weight thread in just the right green, not so heavy as to overtake the quilt, and I'm using it on the shamrocks too, although my retiring self was tempted to put the monofilament thread back in. I should be able to finish the quilting tomorrow, and with any luck, have it bound and ready to send off to its new home by week's end.
Then it was time to quilt. I banished any guilt about stitching in the ditch with monofilament thread, loaded the CD player with "Yes" discs, and stitched away. It really did make me realize how pressured I've felt to free-motion quilt with decorative thread, even though I often prefer this more utilitarian and supportive style of quilting. There are pieces where I want the quilting to be more in your face, but I guess the pendulum has swung so far that direction in the quilting world, I felt obligated to keep up or be left behind. Frankly, I see many quilts now where the quilting really is the main emphasis and I don't like the way it takes over the design. Call this my little rebellion and a retreat into my comfort zone. Walking foot users unite!
I'm down to quilting shamrocks in the square-on-points. If you click on the picture for a larger view, you can see that I quilted the Cathedral Window arcs in the border using a (gasp!) colored cotton thread. That's an Oliver Twist hand-dyed 50 weight thread in just the right green, not so heavy as to overtake the quilt, and I'm using it on the shamrocks too, although my retiring self was tempted to put the monofilament thread back in. I should be able to finish the quilting tomorrow, and with any luck, have it bound and ready to send off to its new home by week's end.
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