I have finally got the stinkin' thing pinned together. Now I have to decide what design to quilt it in. I am thinking of just quilting, "stitching in the ditch" then free style quilt in the middle of each block a "flower" that I doodle on paper all the time.
I am seriously contemplating my quilting future. I like the idea of quilting, but sewing the stinkin' things together, not so much....really Karen? This may be the one and only quilt I ever make.
First of all, I don't have any quilting frames. Bob was going to get some lumber and make me some for Christmas (this is where I laugh hysterically), but he had to spend a few days in the hospital for bleeding ulcers a few days before Christmas, so he didn't get that done. He almost died. That was not what made me laugh, just the idea of him making something out of lumber. He is NOT a carpenter. He is the hardest working person I know, he can saw cedar cants all day long, he is kind, loving, funny, but he is NOT a carpenter.
No problem. I have read many articles and seen many youtube tutorials where people quilt using large embroidery frames, or just laying the quilt in their lap. It isn't as tightly sewn if you do it that way, but it has a certain charm...I will do that I say to myself...hahaha....now I laugh at myself, for if Bob is no carpenter, I am no quilter, no I am not.
Well, I had a time trying to get all the layers pinned together with the large quilting safety pins. I laid it in the living room floor, on the carpet, the dirty dirty carpet, smoothed and smoothed it, and then finally started pinning it. It took over an hour to get all that done. I was about half-way through when I realized I didn't have enough pins. Of course, it was in the middle of the living room floor, in the way. Finally I got it pinned as far as my pins would take it, started to fold it up and noticed a couple of large wrinkles on the underside of it. Ugggghhhhhh. I had to take out all the pins. I just folded it up and quit for the day.
I got another package of pins, 150 count, to add to the 400 pins I already had. Then I had Bob to pick up another package while he was out and about. He thought a package of 40 would be plenty. Then after figuring and counting a little bit, I decided I needed even more, so Alicia picked up another 150 for me. I found out later that even that many more were not enough.
I had an idea while I was drifting off to sleep one night. Take the thing over to the church and use the humongous kitchen island in the kitchen to lay the quilt on while I pinned it. BINGO. A large, hard surface to lay it on, out of the way, perfect.
When I got over there I decided to push several of the tables together instead because that kitchen island is chest high to me and I decided that wasn't as perfect as I had imagined.
So I pushed three tables together and it was finally big enough to lay the quilt flat on it. I smoothed and pinned, smoothed and pinned, and guess what?!? I ran out of pins again. So I went back and forth over the quilt, taking pins out here and there and putting them other places here and there where it needed pins. I got to the point where I couldn't really take out any more pins, so I folded the quilt and brought it home.
Now it lies folded up in a laundry basket on top of my cedar chest, waiting for me to get in the mood to start quilting on it.
Some are quilters, some are not. I think I might be in the "NOT" category.
More to come later.
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