So, I'm using my time in this Brisbane Lockdown to work on the first quilt I've actually made specifically for myself. I started this quilt back in 2018 when on impulse I went into the Mar Stitches and Craft fair one Saturday or Sunday to purposefully kick-start my sewjo. I found most of these fabrics in a fat quarter stall. It was when fat quarters were on the way out for most quilt shops. I understand why independant quilt shops have discontinued this wasteful and time consuming practise, but there is something fun about playing with lots of different fabric swatches, matching up colours and patterns. And this really kicked my sewjo back into gear back then.
I used a free quilt pattern that I saw through Pinterest, and sat down and sewed.
Only last year did I pin baste the quilt together with help from my youngest Sister A. I've converted her to the cult of quilting since I started this quilt. Yay me! It was so nice having some help pinning the quilt. She doesn't make quilts of this size, just baby and lap quilts as "new baby" gifts. So she was taken aback by the size of this one. The quilt with borders is roughly 79" x 79", so it's big. But I have the backroom setup with the fabric table on dolleys which makes manuevering things easy.
Early this year I decided to finish off a quilt that I'd started back in the 90's and when it was done I moved onto this purple beast while the sewjo was still fresh and flowing. Then .. LOCKDOWN. And now my work computer has pushed the sewing machine aside. There was a mad cleaning and re-arranging frenzy Tuesday night as I struggled with having my sewing space invaded. I have somewhat acclimatised to the invader, but I've made sure that I can push the "work stuff" aside in the evenings and get sewing quickly with music or streaming media playing beside me.
You can see that the edge to edge quilting motif with the horizontal leaks and troughs works really well. A bit of a challenge with the ole domestic sewing machine. Bernina900 does her best though. And she's had a few more clean outs and oil treatments since I've started quilting this last month, than she's ever had before, so she's not complaining too much. I will need to get her a spa day this year though.
I basically quilt back and forth with the edge of the walking foot as the spacing guide until the bobbin runs out.
The below fabric with the purple and blue pointilism swirls is one of the first quilting fabrics I bought when I visit my first quilting show with my Godmother who introduced me to the dangerous hobby of quilting by taking me to The Patchwork Tree that used to be right by the Motorway on Juliette Street. It's painted black and has townhouses built all around in now, but it used to have a bare dirt backyard where you could park and walk into a fabric wonderland.
