window on the forest, part 3

So I’ve just given my hands a little spa experience in front of the TV.  After several days of sewing, they needed it.

The quilt top was pieced several days ago (which was when the picture above was taken) and yesterday, I put together the backing, inner batting and top to make the quilt ‘sandwich’ and basted it all together with hand stitches.  I also started adding the quilting stitches yesterday and I’ve worked at it all day today to get it finished – which it is – yay!  Tomorrow I’ll make the binding, square the quilt (where you trim it and make all the edges square and straight) and start adding the binding.  I really enjoy adding the binding, I like the challenge of making my hand stitches as invisible as possible.

I’ve enjoyed realising this quilt design so much that I’ve ordered some more fabric to make another version of the quilt.  It will look quite a bit different, but will be based on the same basic design.

I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed the actual process of making the quilt, which becomes a kind of personal ritual as you find your own way of making a quilt.  There’s the really fun stage of designing and planning followed by the stressful cutting part. Then you bring the pieces together, which for me involved lots of hand sewing with the TV on in the background.  This is also a stage that gives me a good workout as I have to run up and down the stairs to press each part as it is completed and pin up and baste the next part.  As I have a tendency to leave something in the upstairs studio or in the downstairs living room (tape measure, scissors, pins, thread – sometimes even the pieces I’ve been stitching), I go up and down the stairs dozens of times a day in the piecing stage.  Next comes the sandwiching, basting and quilting, which I tend to do in the studio over a few days with an audio book playing and finally, the binding, which will see me back in front of the TV, relaxing with my hand stitching.

Once the quilt is finished, I will then have to find a couple of smaller quicker projects to stop myself from jumping straight into the next quilt, which I know is what I will be itching to do – quilting can be addictive!