Machine Quilting

I have to admit I enjoy handwork more than machine sewing. And machine quilting has been a very slow learning process for me. Which is probably why the quilt that I am working on at the moment was set aside for almost three years!

I’ve just now realized I had somewhat of a mental block about this… so I’ve been procrastinating. To begin, the quilt is humongous! I had designed it initially as a queen-sized bed quilt, with a horizontal orientation. I then enlisted the help of several friends to make the blocks. And then… the blocks returned to me varied a lot in size. time to revise the design. I added triangle corners and changed the layout orientation. As a result, I ended up with a king-sized quilt. Humongous. Here’s my EQ drawing:

Sister's Choice

I pieced the backing with different fabrics. First mistake: I should have broken this down into four different pieces, quilted each one and then joined them together. Second mistake: I should have started quilting it right away, while I was motivated. But I put it away, and every now and then when I pulled it out again I would look at it in dismay (did I already mention it is humongous?) and quickly put it back again.

Oh, yes, I hadn’t mentioned this was supposed to be a special gift! It is meant for the doctor who saved my mother’s life three years ago (long, long story), a true angel in our lives. I quickly pulled it out last week, before hospitalizing my mother again for another surgery. Seeing this doctor again obviously motivated me to get finished on this project. Silly me… did I really think I was going to get this quilted in two days?

So I’ve left it out, quilting a little bit each day, as time allows. At this rate, I truly hope it won’t take another three years to finish… hopefully just a couple of weeks!