Slowly but surely I have overcome my procrastination and issues with pinning and marking of the rails quilt. Sometimes all one has to do is just admit you have no choice but to proceed and just do it. I was pleased to feel myself getting into a rhythm with the marking, and putting the rest of the pins in went quickly. As usual, was asking myself what the big deal was that had me putting this off for so long. I'd already started auditioning threads and found the King Tut pink variegated thread perfect for the top. As for the bobbin, there were several ways I could go including pink, but those flamingos are very peachy. I initially thought the King Tut blue variegated thread would be perfect, surely was the right blue, but I hesitated. Maybe that light blue one would be better, but it just looks like white or grey thread when I spooled it across the fabric. There's quite a bit of golden tan in the animals and I've decided that gold King Tut variegated thread was the one. I also think it would show less should I have any pull-ups on the front. It sure has gotten hot here, too hot to spend any time outside during the day, so no excuse not to start quilting in my air conditioned studio.
Did I mention I ordered more batting? I honestly don't need more, which a quick assessment of my stash confirmed. But what a knee jerk reaction to seeing a 30% off sale at one of my favorite internet shops, Connecting Threads. I wasn't aware of this particular blend of cotton and wool in a batting and I was intrigued. Cotton battings often quilt up flatter than expected, but I don't always want to use a wool batting. I'm speculating that the wool will create a loftier batting and keep it all natural. Has anyone out there tried it? I absolutely shopped like I was still making lots of quilts, buying the king size batt because it is the best value. I still remember Harriet Hargrave's batting lecture where she pointed out most quilters buy batting because it is the size they need for their project, not considering if its contents is appropriate for their project and never thinking they could get more than one quilt out of the largest batt available and save money. Well, you have to be using it up for it to be a good buy, so I guess my somewhat impulse buy may encourage me to make more tops. I do have two large quilt ideas I've not followed up on (even though fabric is set aside), and think I may still have it in me to get them made. Perhaps I'll be guilted into it! Whatever works, I say.
4 comments:
King Tut variegated threads are some of my favorites. I like the ones you've chosen for the baby quilt! I'll look forward to seeing what you do with that 'extra' batting! We're experiencing really hot weather, as are most areas of the West, so it's off to camping in the mountains we go! Jan in WY
Thanks Jan - and don't hold your breath waiting for that new batting to get used! Happy camping! At what elevation do you find some relief from the heat. I feel like I AM in the mountains but at about 2400 ft and it still can get "stinking" hot. Hope you camp near a stream or lake to dip your toes into. :-)
Such a fun backing for your rail quilt! I also procrastinate about what color quilting thread to use. Years ago I either used invisible or metallic gold, which made it easier.
Isn't it fun for a kid's quilt? I couldn't resist. I too used a lot of invisible thread for years before I got more confident in my free motion quilting and lost some of my fear about regular thread "showing too much". Now the invisible thread feels like such a cop out!
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