A Busy Two Days

The quilting is done, and I'm ready to bind this!  I'm very happy with the background quilting.  For the third line, the one that makes the star pattern, I found that using the seam guide didn't work.  The slightest error compounded itself over several lines, and the pattern became more and more uneven.  So after quite a bit of ripping, I used one inch blue painter's tape to mark each line before I stitched it.  This was quite easy and accurate, but at the same time allowed tiny adjustments to keep the effect right.

The outline quilting around the motifs, which you can't see, isn't as good.  I FORGOT that I could take off the walking foot and use the regular foot (one of the advantages of doing the background first).  So after I made ugly outlines with the walking foot,  I tried free motion, which looked worse.  THEN I remembered the regular foot, but it was impossible to rip out all the tiny free motion stitches without messing up the applique.  I took out the most obvious part, and have let it go.

I also made good progress on Interpret This! yesterday.  My husband is at Argonne National Labs this week doing an experiment, and I treated myself to a two day quilting camp at home.  It's amazing how much you can accomplish that way.  Back to regular life now.