Quilting a Quilt

The problem with finishing a quilt top is you think you are done. So sorry Grasshopper. Now you have to quilt the thing.

I chose a flannel fabric for the back. I thought the color went well with the blue in the top and it looked warm and cozy. Then I chose the batting for the middle. The library has tables large enough and light enough to put together and lay out the "sandwich". Doris helped me tape the back face down and the we put on the batting and the quilt top face up. A person could then baste the top with a running stitch. That person would not be me. I doubt my back would allow me to bend over long enough. Doris was kind enough to show me how to smooth everything out and then place the pins for basting. The quilting pins are bent to make this a pretty fast operation. Especially as I had a "helper". In reality, I think she had ME as a "helper". Nonetheless, we got it done!

I took the quilt home and tried to figure out all that I had learned in the last class for quilting the whole thing together.

I started by making a large "X" through the quilt to hold it all together. I went through the four patches from corner to corner.



I outlined a few places.





I did "stitch in a ditch" where you try to quilt in the seam to hide the stitches.




I tried a bit of a pattern.




When I am done with all the machine quilting, I will attempt a bit of hand quilting to outline some butterflies and birds and maybe a flower or two. I'll have to see how it goes. NOW I understand why a lot of quilters pay someone to finish their quilts. I don't think I will ever do that. I am to cheap and it kind of seems like cheating. I want to learn to do it all. I won't buy one of the huge long arm machines to do it myself, but I will muddle along like I am doing and just make do.