I spent yesterday afternoon and this afternoon in the studio, working on Oliver's quilt. The construction of it might have been quick and easy, but the quilting is taking considerably longer. I have now quilted all the tractors
They look lovely on the back, but not quite so lovely on the front ....
Non-quilters will probably be wondering why all the ends are on the front - it's so you don't sew over them - after you've had to unpick your quilting because you have sewn over the thread on the back, you make sure you don't do it again!! I sat and sewed in most of the ends last night while we were watching the cricket, and I'll sew in the rest tonight, when England will be hoping to win to stay in the competition.
The next stage was to meander quilt round the tractor pictures, so I changed to the free motion foot and dropped the feed-dogs
The variegated thread gives extra interest
The quilting gives a lovely texture on the back
While the fleece makes a lovely cuddly quilt, it does stretch a lot, and by the time the centre is quilted, it has distorted quite a bit. To try to stabilise the shape, I put the walking foot back on and quilted the borders with straight lines. I quite often finish a quilt like this - I like the chequered effect in the corners
All(!) that remains now is to trim the edges and put on the binding - that will probably have to wait until Friday, as I have a rather busy week!
Malcolm very kindly washed my car for me today - when I'm heading back with the shopping trolley tomorrow morning, I will have to remember that I am looking for a RED car, not a MUD-coloured one! And .... even as I type this he is busy cooking the dinner - roast duck with his signature orange sauce!