And Sew On and Sew On...

Quote for the Day:

"I've been put on this earth to sew and finish a certain number of things. 

I am so far behind right now…I will never die!"

~author unknown

The Blue Ridge Beauty quilt is now marked, loaded into the hand quilting frame, and even has the first few stitches in it!  YAY!

I was going to piece together a backing for this quilt, but I looked and looked through my yardage and just couldn't come up with something that I liked for the backing.  I had some 108" wide unbleached muslin in my stash, so I decided to use it instead.  I know, I know...BORING!!!  But, oh well...it will be a breeze to quilt through since muslin is lightweight and all.  I'm making this quilt as a gift for someone (who doesn't read my blog, obviously!  LOL) and I was afraid that person might not find a pieced backing as attractive and interesting as I do, so I went with the "safe" route...a solid unbleached muslin.  

I used to use wide unbleached muslin a lot for backings when I first started quilting and I would buy it by the bolt when I could use a coupon at Joann's and get it for 50% off.  But as I've "grown" (a nice word for "aged"), I've found that I like a print on the quilt backing.  Sometimes I buy wide backings to match or "compliment" the front, and sometimes I piece backings...sometimes from scraps/leftovers...especially if the quilt is for me or for someone that I know would appreciate an interesting quilt back.

However, my eyes were opened by a quilter I met recently who said that she only likes plain backings on her quilts because she tries to keep with the way quilts were originally made...with plain, boring backs.  :(   That opened my eyes that not all people think the back of the quilt should be as interesting as the front.  And since this quilt is going to someone who may not have seen or experienced pieced backings, I decided to go the "safe" route.

Okay...so I whimped out!  :(   I hope the quilt is appreciated by the person it will be going to...even with it's boring back!  LOL

This top measures 94" X 108", so it will probably take me a good 6 months to finish it.  I have a pad of paper on my silver tray of hand quilting supplies (you can see the silver tray sitting on the quilt in the top picture) and I make notes of things to remember that come to me while I'm hand quilting, be it the time and date of a TV show I see advertised, or just things that I want to remember to do.  On that pad, I write the date that I start quilting a quilt so I can look back and see just how long it took me to quilt it.  Sometimes I surprise myself and finish it quicker than I thought I would.  Other times I find that it took me longer than I had originally thought, though I am getting faster with experience.  It's just one of those things that I like to keep track of.  Ooops...my OCD is showing!  LOL

Loretta