Threadmistress

More quilting fun!  This week’s quilters:  Judy Doenias, Diane Rode Schneck, Mary Cargill, Andrea Murray, Maureen Hyslop, Doreen Mangan, and Mom and me.  The white triangles are done, plus lots of quilting in and around the blocks.  Now to put a single “v” in each of the red triangles, sew on the binding, and make a nifty label.

We had such fun today!  First Mary Cargill and Diane Rode Schneck came over.   Then my mom, Nell Semel (with whom I have done every quilt I’ve ever finished) and Renee Fields stopped by and added several hours of stitching.  Andrea Murray and Barbara Sloane joined us later, and between the seven of us, we got  quite a bit of quilting done!  Still, there is plenty more to do, so we are going to quilt again next Saturday, and hope you can join us at some point.   We’d love you to add a few stitches to the assembled quilt, which has a communal feeling quite different from that of piecing or appliqueing a block.  Even if you only have a half hour to stop by and do a tiny bit, we’d love to have you join us.  If Saturday isn’t convenient, let me know if there is an evening this week that would work.

This is Diane’s lovely redwork embroidery on the bottom righthand kite.

Just in case you are wondering if this is The-Project-That-Will-Never-End, we’re hoping to have this finished by the end of next weekend.   Perhaps the hand-sewing of the binding will take another day or so beyond that, but we are wrapping it up in the immediate-near-future and will email you soon with plans for a culminating celebration!

But not a turkey!  Happily, my lovely neighbor, Roz, brought me leftovers from her son and daughter-in-law’s feast.  Totally delicious, gluten-free, and way easier than making a Thanksgiving meal for myself.

So, the layers are almost entirely basted.  My knees need a break, so I’ll do a few more rows in the morning.

Here’s the incredible news:  the printed fabric that I bought for the backing actually made a panel big enough for the whole thing.  We were pretty sure the length left on the bolt at CQ wouldn’t suffice, and I’d have to piece in some other fabric to compensate.  Was kind of dreading having to figure that one out, but lo, I ended up with exactly 1.5 inches extra fabric on all four sides!

Holy cow, someone up there really likes me this weekend.

The batting is Thermore, in case you were wondering.  I’ve used it for the past few quilts, so I went with the familiar and predictable.  Predictable is important when operating on such a tight schedule.

I haven’t done a post with the kites up close yet, so here they are.   You  may click the photos to see them larger.

Here we are, all sewn together:

You may be able to see that I haven’t sewn in the lower right kite (in the top left of this picture) because Diane and I are still working on the redwork embroidery.  We’re thinking “With Infinite Gratitude, 2011” will be nice and will echo the Infinite Variety exhibit title.

The backing fabric is just out of the dryer and will be pressed and sewn up in no time.  It looks like this:

Am just starting to attach the borders/kites.  Here are the elements laid out next to each other on the floor:

Quilt top done, except for the kites and triangles.  Here it is, held up by two mysterious men (whose bedhead and sleepy faces were not ready for their close-up).  I’m bringing it to DJ class tomorrow night and, hopefully, Friday night, too.  See you soon!