Necessity trumps procrastination!

Let me first start by saying I love LONG WEEKENDS!  I also love celebrations where the family gathers and Easter is a significant one for our family.  You can always count on a lamb roast and an array of complimentary veggies to fill the house with amazing smells and our bellies with tasty treats. We had our Easter dinner on Saturday to accommodate a family member who had to leave on Sunday right after lunch. No problem!  That left me the afternoon/evening on Sunday after Church to sew.


I'm chomping at the bit to get my "Waltz Around the World" quilt finished as I've been asked to teach this pattern at our guild workshop in October.  I still have to edit my pattern notes before releasing the pattern and then to photograph and display the finished quilt with the patterns for sale at Satin Moon.  I was determined to get it pin basted this weekend using my noodles.  I'm not referring to my brain, although it is also good to engage the brain when working on a quilting project. :)

No, the noodles I'm referring to are long foam insulation cylinders (similar to a pool noodle but thinner).  I'm going to try a new technique for basting the quilt.  I thank God for Pinterest and those that so willingly share their ideas.  What an amazing platform it is!  This one was a winner and I knew as soon as I saw it that it would work.  Pure genius!

Now that I'm ready to pin, where are those basting pins!?  Oh right, they might just be in the last quilt that I basted but haven't yet quilted (the procrastination part of the post).  All the stores were closed on Easter Sunday so it didn't take me long to figure out that if I worked on the already basted quilt then I could reuse my basting pins in this project. And with a little caffeine in the mix I might even be able to accomplish both tasks this weekend. (Ever hopeful!)

So, I pulled out my trusty Janome 6500, my quilting machine, grabbed some thread and set myself up on the diningroom table so I could spread out.  I love my little sewing nook in our laundry room, but I definitely feel constrained with a project this size.  And so I set about quilting this UFO:

This picture was taken before all the string border blocks were on there but you get the idea.

Section by section, I sought inspiration from Pinterest (again!) and so far I'm loving it.  Here's what I've done so far:

This one shows decorative stitch (serpentine-like) in the yellow strip in the string border blocks and leaf border.

My 3D Geese

Leaf inside borders and 3D Geese from further away

Feathers - not very visible but they're there!

It's a great feeling to be satisfied with the quilting and texture you've laid down. As I'm working from the outside in, I've just got the center medallion and corner blocks to be done and it's a wrap!

And speaking of a wrap!...while all this was going on in my house, this little muffin was heading to the mainland to be on a movie shoot with our daughter. They 'wrapped' on Monday afternoon so she's safely back home with us after her moment of fame.

While this guy consoled himself at home with his chicken:

And me?  Well I enjoyed this glorious view from my diningroom while I happily worked away until the point of sore muscles.  Machine quilting is work!  It's still not finished and the rolled noodle quilt is still that, but it was a great long weekend to play and create and I'm SEW  thankful. 

Until next time!
Mavis