It just figures

I just finished machine quilting the one I call "Wild Thing" (see the post here) and wouldn't you know - the ugly ducking that fought me all through construction slid through the machine like butter, without a pucker or an argument. Since it had already caused me so much angst, I wasn't eager to invest much time on the quilting. I just did a geometric pattern all over in the ditch, and it looks pretty good, actually. Quilting improves even so-so design.

O frabjous day! Calloo! Callay! (and one little boo-hoo)

I have finished my brother-in-law's quilt! It took most of the day to sew on the binding; I finally completed it while listening to an absolutely dreadful movie on TV with the cat plunked down in the middle and protesting every time I had to move the quilt. I have already posted a picture of the top, so here's one of the completed quilt showing the backing.

Two things I'm happy about and one, not so. I love the way the longarm quilter kept the striped backing so straight; it was a design choice that made me very nervous but she handled it well. I also like that the back is ornate; you could turn it over and use it like a wholecloth quilt or bedspread. That stripe may not be everybody's cup of tea but it makes me happy. Long ago I quit using solid colors or tame tone-on-tone prints on the backings. I wanted the backing to make a big statement but not have to be pieced. Large prints and stripes like this are a wonderful jolt. Just hope that the recipient doesn't think it gaudy!

The only thing I am not so happy about is the tension in the longarm quilting at part of one edge. It's something that only a quilter would notice or be upset about, but while binding I realize that the stitches there are little tight. This is a peril of hiring your quilting. I use the same service but depending who's at the machine you can be surprised, sometimes badly. One quilt got overstretched so much I haven't finished the binding yet after several years, it just makes me upset every time I pick it up. I had to do some surreptitious trimming to make the edge straight. The border still looks wavy. It broke my heart because I loved the colors and pattern. I didn't take any work back to them for years until the business sold and the new owners hired better quilters.

This overstretching seems more prevalent when I use poly batting. Cotton lies flatter and is less prone to distortion. I only use poly batting on gift quilts where the propensity of cotton batting to shrink a bit when washed would only freak them out (not quilt-o-philes). I like the heft and low-loft surface of cotton batting and the little shrinkage makes those puffs between the quilting lines that seem to suit my scrappy designs. Looks old-fashioned.

Well, before I get too cocky, there's still one more to go!

Just do it

I have completed the machine quilting on two of my Project Linus quilts, and while I am in no danger of being included in the permanent collection of the museum at Paducah, they aren't that bad.

I decided to quit obsessing and just do it. After the second one was safety pin-basted, I plopped the sewing machine on the kitchen table and tore into it. And you know what? It's OK. I stepped back and tried to look at it objectively, and guess what I saw? A really cute baby quilt that someone will appreciate. If anybody thinks my machine quilting could be better, they're right - but in the final analysis, so what? I'll get better at it as I go along, and this quilt will make somebody happy.

I can make myself nuts second-guessing and obsessing about whether what I have made is good enough. This has to stop.