Portions and Contortions

With the studio humidity lower than ever this week, static cling became an issue again with the polyester thread, but I managed to stitch some of the boulders and part of the stone walkway on the free-motion garrison quilt. Elbows, shoulders and neck were put through ridiculous contortions while working on the very center of the quilt, even with the batting removed from the sides to decrease bulk. Again, this thing is fairly large and somewhat stiff.

Overall, only the upper center portion has been quilted so far, except for the tree foliage and the little grassy areas. Those will be quilted next, followed by the lower center portion of the quilt. Then I'll insert and re-join the batting on one side and get to work on that.

Here's the back so far (photo taken sideways). I love how 'ghostly' these landscape scenes always look when you turn them over.

Below is a closer shot of the garrison. You can sort of see the dimension created by quilting around each and every stone. Of course it's a lot more evident in person.

Dimension might be more obvious in the next photo. Compare the the upper shadow on the stone walkway, which has been quilted, to the lower shadow, which has not. Again, you get at least a hint of the dimensional difference that quilting is making.

What was mostly worked on was the lap quilt designed from various fat quarters during a 'break' last week. To piece it, I used my late mom-in-law's 1962 Singer 503a, which is made entirely of metal. With no plastic anywhere on or around the machine, there were absolutely no issues with static cling in my poly thread. Nor were any body parts strained. Finished piecing yesterday.

This is destined for the Center for Women and Families here in my town. The (mostly) women and children who seek shelter there are often fleeing from violence and abuse and have no time to collect possessions before they leave home. The Center gratefully takes donations of new, lovingly handmade, practical items to send home with the families when they relocate. For anyone in the Kentuckiana area who is interested in donating, their website is http://www.thecenteronline.org/.

Hooking up here with Leah Day's FMQ Project Blog, and Sarah Craig's Whoop Whoop Friday blog. Leah has been a huge influence on my free-motion quilting from the beginning, and Sarah inspires me constantly with the prolific and beautiful quilting she and her friends do for donations. Their reader linkups are a great bonus.

Have a great weekend!

Linda