Toward no. 3

Last fall, other than solids for a Nancy Crow workshop, my stash was still small. I tried out techniques from Sandi Cummings' Quilting Outside the Blocks using old fabric. Green and red. Must have been leftovers from making stuffed fabric Christmas wreaths. The 70s. Beautiful, not! Wall un-worthy! But perfect for recovering an old – also 70s – floor pillow.

I'd borrowed Harriet Hargreave's Heirloom Machine Quilting from the EBHQ library. What a comprehensive reference! She really gives you the nuts and bolts about preparation and quilting. This ufo would be my practice piece and my goal for June. Sashing made it bigger and differentiated the nine blocks. Still not beautiful but that helped. Then machine quilted. Can you see the quilt lines? This was a good size – about 27x27 – for my first machine quilted project. There were times I got lazy about rolling it up to feed it through the throat. But it was small enough I could cheat.

I'd bought variegated 40wt thread from Superior Threads specifically for this project. So I used it. What's done is done. I would've liked a heavier solid thread. Could be an illusion with the variegated thread, but the lines don't look parallel. And the corners flared. Maybe there's a better accessory or technique for this. I used a walking foot with a seam guide bar.

Superior Threads' Bottom Line worked well as the bobbin thread. Here's the muslin back side. Instead of batting I used flannel for the sandwich, so it's rather flat. Stretched over a pillow, the loft would've been lost anyway. I'll add a pillow back and another ufo will be done.