Aimlessly Waiting ~



I've been waiting for something large and wonderful to blog about.  Something witty. Something important.  But none of those adjectives describe anything I've seen or done lately.  So, I'll just talk a little bit about what's going on around here.  Naturally, there is always a quilt work in progress. 

improv pieced half rectangle triangle quilt with big thread slow stitching - marty mason


We dined out last night and dinner was wonderful.  It rained as we dined - he on a steak, a medium to rarely cooked ribeye and I on grilled halibut.  Servings are large,  even at  fine restaurants,  so we'll have a steak sandwich for lunch today.  I didn't think a halibut sandwich sounded very appetizing, so I left my remains at the restaurant. 

Micro stitch quilt basting gun


Moving backwards.....I basted four quilts Friday.  You see,  I have a new way of basting quilts and so far it's almost worked out.  I say 'almost' because I'm still having to  wrestle around with the larger quilt tops.  I use my dining table as my basting surface which isn't as wide as the large quilts.  But anyway, next comes my 1" layer of foam that I purchased at JoAnns' last week.   The quilt back smooths out nicely on the foam and, of course, the batting takes care of itself.  If I use cotton batting then the quilt top usually snugs down and smooths out without a hitch.  Wool batting, which I adore, gives a little more of a smoothing struggle.  But my new basting technique is with that little Micro Stitch (as seen on TV).  Those little tacks are just the trick.   And, as they advertise, say goodbye to pens AND  there is no spray basting required. 



Moving forward again....in my zeal to do more hand quilting, I started another one yesterday.  After quilting four lengths up and down the quilt, I decided that the thread was too heavy.   I had some Valdani 8 weight that was a nice variegated color mix for my quilt but 8 weight is just too hard to pull through the layers and it was puckering the back.  I bit the bullet and pulled out the 4 lengths of quilting  that took all morning to stitch in.  Now I'll start with a #12 weight and see where that takes me before making an investment in heavier weight quilting thread.  Perhaps by Houston Quilt Festival this November I'll know more about my likes and dislikes on using heavy thread in my slow stitching.  I'm sure they'll have a thread vendor that will be more than happy to assist. 






 
 
 


Now you see, there doesn't have to be an earthquake to shake a blog post out of me.  It just takes a minute longer to type as I ruminate on my everyday happenings.



























That's it from the home front.    Happy Sunday to you all. 



Marty
 
 

1 comment :

  1. I have one of those little guns, Marty. I loved it when I used to quilt on my Bernina. Now I don't need it with the longarm, but it didn't occur to me that I might use it for hand-quilting! I'm almost finished with the quilt that I'm currently stitching, so maybe I'll use some sense (and this tool) with the next one. That improv quilt sure is gorgeous. Can't wait to see what you do with the slow stitching.

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