Wednesday as it Unfolds!

I suppose I could call this Tuesday Evening helpers -

I was attempting to move the hand quilting hoop from one section to the next, and well - someone just HAD to get into the act.

And I love it, I do.  It's precious beyond words - you can't help but smile and laugh, but just like with a toddler, things seem to take twice as long as they should, and you just can't seem to get your message across to them without them thinking they are in trouble - which she wasn't!.

I have had several requests to "Show the Whole Thing!" But there really isn't room to lay things out very well here at the cabin.  The center has been complete for a while - I am now working that flower chain border in between the two green bands.

When I have completed that - all that will be left is the 4 corner fill in areas, and the final flower border.

View from the back -

You can see where the hoop was, before moving it to complete an area further down.

The sparse "quilting" you see with what looks like "wiggle" lines is precisely that.  I baste my hand quilting projects by long arm - using a very large stitch and a serpentine design.  The basting comes out as I move the hoop from area to area.

I've tried many different kinds of quilt frames, and find I love the simplicity of a well basted quilt, and a round hoop that allows me to rotate the area so I am always quilting in a direction that is comfortable for me.

My favorite thimbles are TJ Lane.  My needles?  Roxanne, betweens size 9, 10 or 11 depending on the thickness of the batting, how many seams there are to quilt through, etc.  I am quilting this one with 9's.

I am quilting with Gutermann hand quilting thread in ecru.

Close up.

I am not marking any quilting lines on this quilt, I am just going by eye ball.  It's very simple, and I don't have to take time out to mark.

I love the texture of the hand stitches - so different than machine stitching.

I want to keep the picot edge of the whole hexagons - so there will be no binding.  I'm going to "knife edge" the edge of the quilt by trimming the batting even with the edge of the quilt top, the backing 1/4'' larger, and turn the backing in to be blind stitched to the hexagons at the outside edge. Then I will also quilt close to that edge to finish everything off.  

I finished an early hexagon quilt that way, and loved how it turned out with no binding.

It's a good thing that I love feet up time working on this project - because when this one (Jason's) is done, there is Jeff's yet to hand quilt also.

Today's early morning progress!

Today, even with the USPS closed for Veterans Day (Thank a vet!) I have a full day ahead, but have already managed an hour at the sewing machine before breakfast this morning.

I feel energized to start this day!  At this rate I may be ready to start sewing this quilt together in a week or so.

I love that orange shirt plaid with the pumpkins on it.  That was one of my line-dancing shirts one year!  I loved that shirt!

And of course mixing the recycled shirt prints with my favorite neutrals is a win/win.

I woke to a very foggy morning!

We had quite a bit of rain last night, and this morning the mountain is still socked in with fog.  The temperature isn't bad - it's fairly warmish actually at 63f degrees, and the fog feels a bit like Brigadoon! 

(That is a shout out to my high school musical theater days - oh how I loved it!)

Brigadoon Breakfast on the porch!

As it was not freezing, just foggy - we celebrated Veterans Day with pancakes, eggs and bacon cooled on the Blackstone grill on the porch.  We did eat inside, but there is nothing like the taste of an outdoor-cooked breakfast.

Dear veterans - today our flag flies for you!  Thank you so much for your service!

If you look beneath the porch at the right of the photo - you'll see a window with lights on - That is the sliding glass door to my basement studio here at the cabin.

Wednesday has always been seen in my mind's eye as a big top-of-the-hill diagram, with me teetering on the edge, ready to roll over and go screaming (Sometimes keester over tea kettle) through the rest of the week - and starting the uphill climb again on Monday.

I am already looking forward to another #mediafreesunday coming up - no plans on what to do with it yet, but I keep reminding myself that if Chic Fil A can be closed on Sunday to give their employees a day off with their families, so can I. Have you thought about it yourself? It's not like we'll return on Monday to find that the social world has disappeared. It will all be there still, on Monday.

There is still time to get in on Barbara Brackman's New Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, 3rd edition gift-away! Enter to win ON THAT POST.

My newly released Nearly Lemoyne PDF pattern is also on sale at 25% off in the digital pattern section of the Quiltville Store. No coupon needed. Sale ends Saturday morning 11/14/2020

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

To all who have served - Happy Veterans Day!

We owe you for so much more than we could ever begin to thank you for.

Have a great Wednesday, folks!