Pause after battle

taming the bedquilt

Quilting this monster bedquilt was like doing battle: fierce fighting in the middle and a few skirmishes elsewhere.

I'd walking-footed along both sides of major seams and fmq'd in the ditch within each nine-patch triangular block. As Cindy Needham says, stitch E-S-S (every stinking seam).

laid out on my bed for inspection

I've learned . . .

• the open toe walking foot lets me see enough for straighter and truer stitches;

• using the fmq foot is like driving a sports car instead of a moving van; and

• when restarting, take a stitch in place and relax the finger hold so that the first stitch is not tugged awry. 

wool batting puffs up each triangle

Quilting is on pause as I contemplate motifs: may leave the printed triangles as is, and add feathers and swirls in the larger solid areas.