Slow Process

As I planned, I've spent most of the weekend quilting. And, as usual, it's a much slower process than I first anticipated. It's Sunday night and I would guess that after spending many hours over the course of two days, the quilting is about half done.

If you do your own quilting, perhaps you'll agree that each quilt demands its own unique quilting. Some quilts lend themselves to an overall design while some do not. The one I'm working on does not. You can probably see what I mean in the photo above where the different parts of the quilt are quilted differently--I think this type of quilting really showcases the design of the quilt.

I suspect some of you are probably wondering, so I'll answer a couple questions before you even have a chance to ask. For quilting, I use a Juki sewing machine, which has a bigger throat area than most domestic machines. I also plan, when quilting a large quilt such as this king size one, to use free motion quilting, so I don't have to manipulate and turn the quilt as much as I would if I was using a walking foot. Although the quilt fits well enough in the machine, the size alone makes it heavy, so the less I have to haul it around, the better. I start in the middle of the quilt and work my way to the edges, so it gets a little easier as I go.

Even so, after sewing all weekend, my neck and shoulders are screaming at me. I think it's time to soak for a bit in a nice, hot bath to relax my sore muscles. At least someone got caught up on his rest and relaxation over the weekend.