Daily sewing

Though I haven't been able to use a big chunk of time for sewing, I do seem to be getting a few things done.

The Crazy Goose Chase quilt is bound and has been washed. It is out on the line right now. Mrs. Furui commented a number of times at how much tape she used to remove cat hairs when she was quilting it but I could have told her it was a lost cause. I did the binding and the cats camped out under it while I finished it off. I stored it in the closet but found Vel sitting on it happily one evening. Sigh. This quilt needed a good wash before taking it for donation... Once it is dried I'll try to get it out of the house before the cats find it again.

Another block of Jenny of Elefanz's BOM has been completed and is in waiting. I am slowly catching up with this project.

My biggest headache has been Mrs. Furui's medallion applique quilt that I promised to quilt for her. There was a lot of white in the center that I didn't know what to do with but I started in with feathers... A bit lopsided but it will do.

Then I started making pebbles but it turned into such a long process and I was getting so minuscule that I gave up and spent an evening taking all the pebbling stitches out. WRONG MOVE!!! With the stitching out I had left over punch holes all over Mrs. Furui's pretty quilt. DISASTER! I should have left the pebbles in... I started in meandering in hopes that the new stitches will camouflage the punch holes.

Still a lot of white. I'm tired of the meandering. How about a crosshatch? Did you know that it is difficult to find a stitching rhythm when doing a crosshatch? It is. I'm finding myself going over stitches, trying to back-up blindly, wrestling the quilt into new positions when I change directions. Meandering was easier... But I'm not stopping now, not with the image of more punch holes hovering in my brain. Crosshatch it is!

Sometimes I think that with all the uncertainty about a pattern, the ripping out of stitches, the finding a block of time to go upstairs and machine quilt... that hand quilting is the faster way to go... (I guess I wouldn't think that after 6 months of hand quilting a quilt...)