Things get bad for all of us, almost continually,
and what we do under the constant stress reveals who/what we are.
~Charles Bukowski
Quilting
Inner borders benefit from SID (stitch-in-the-ditch) to keep them straight and that's what I did first here. But what to do next? The improvisationally cut hourglasses don't lend themselves to diagonal stitching although straight lines could run vertically. That's one of my default quilting designs.
Then I recalled the quilting design on kawandis. It's a simple squared-off spiral from the outside in. And usually hand quilted. Starting at the outside meant the back needed to be carefully basted because there's no way to smooth bumps out as quilting progresses. And yes, there was extra at times. Fortunately, those fit between the rounds. Since no stitching crossed any other, there were no pleats.
The inner border was filled with free motion loops in dark brown and the outer border returned to the squared-off spirals. Feathers and Baptist fans didn't seem like they would show against the strong fan pattern of the print.
The back started with a yard of an alphabet print purchased {a couple of years ago} for use on a baby quilt. It's enlarged with a tone-on-tone beige and a tiny green remnant. That green was wider but part was trimmed once the quilt was finished.
The binding is a wonderful multi-color stripe that looks hand painted. It has every color in the quilt: red, yellow, white, brown, and green.
Quilt Specifics
Size: 52" x 52"
Design: Improv Hourglass
Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose cotton
Thread: Superior brown and Gutermann multi-yellow cotton thread
Quilting: Walking foot spiraling squares and FMQ loops
Approximate yardage: 5.75 yds
Previous post: Improvising the scraps
Monthly FUR (Fabric Use Rate)
Two quilts finished this month. Most excited that the Wheel quilt is finally a finish and it looks beautiful. Plus this small one has gone to a new baby. March = 24.75 yds. YTD = 42.625 yards.
Reading
Somehow I quit reading Clare O'Donohue's Someday Quilts mysteries but I'm making up for lost time. This week I finished The Devil's Puzzle where a skeleton is uncovered in Eleanor's backyard. It's been buried for thirty to forty years so there's not much chance of discovering who it is or who murdered him. There are only two more books in this series and I hope to finish it by year end.
EDIT: Clare was a producer for Alex Anderson on Simply Quilts.
