Another Client Beauty

This sweet quilt was sent to me by Doris. It is a Sue Pelland pattern. Though I had a somewhat restrictive budget, I attempted to get the most quilting for the value. Each row of the middle section was very important to be stitched continuously so that I could both outline stitch the orange peels, as well as provide prettier fills.

 She sent me a grainy photo of how she'd seen this quilted, specifically requesting rolling feathers on the alternating corners. This border is like 10" wide, so these are large curling feathers.

 I used a variegated YLI poly thread I have had for ages. It has the reputation of occasionally being persnickitty to quilt with, but happily it ran just fine. It looked pretty on the beige batik because it brought a subtle amount of color. Doris sent the flattest of flat battings, Warm & Natural, so getting relief out of the quilting was not happening. I wanted the color of the thread to at least convey the designs a little bit.

 The orange peels are all fused with the absolute lightest weight fusible. They are not stiff at all. They are also blanket stitched.

I am busy getting my SH*t ready to travel next Wednesday to southern California. The fact that I am going to a place that is 60-70F has been like a blinder to hide the amount of work I have to do from my eyes! It finally hit me today how much of an idiot I may be. The show will pay for 2 checked bags, so I did not ship everything I could have.  Now I am seriously pondering HOW will I manage 2 checked bags AND the one I plan to carry on (which contains all the backings and tops for the 1st day)! ...plus one change of clothes in the likely event my other bags do not make the two connections!  Sheesh...I must be nuts. I will have darn near 125lb of stuff, and I have a 6am flight to boot. Shoot me now!

Today was dedicated to getting the applique borders marked for this quilt.I am still assembling the flowers and leaf units for it, but it's getting close to basting the pieces onto the borders. The grayness of the border will be tempered when all of the applique (purple) is added. I think it will tie together with the center too.

The center section got it's scalloped frame too. I am awaiting delivery of a rose fabric that will be used as a bias piping around the scallops. Leave it to me to always love the discontinued fabrics. It was a beast to locate! I'll likely machine applique that on.

Now, just a 3-4" pieced outer border to design and it will be down to the assembly. And, of course, figuring out how to quilt it so that some of the quilting actually shows!