Basting and quilting and cruising

Today I am working on quilting Transformation, my disappearing four patch quilt in dragonfly fabrics. The walking foot on the Juki is so much beefier than the one on the Kenmore. It tracks nicely in a straight line, too, although it does have a rather annoying squeak.

There's quite a bit of negative space along two sides of this quilt, thanks to a suggestion from Kat. I'm using blue painter's tape to guide the in-the-ditch stitching lines beyond the dragonflies.

The goal is to stitch NEXT to the tape, not ON the tape. Oops. I'll pick that out later.

I basted Transformation and Angular Jungle yesterday by laying each one out on our queen size bed. The backing fabric for the latter is yet another piece from Sue's gift: cute, tiny buttons in all the perfect bright colors. After smoothing the backing face down, I use pins to stretch the fabric tight. I poke the pins straight down into the mattress. Then I use 505 spray to stick all the layers together. I have basting pins, too, but typically only use them along the edges.

I also finished sewing the twelve blocks together for C's Canines. I thought about basting this puppy, too, but I really needed to tackle the pile of previous WIPs first. Angular Jungle and Transformation already had backings pieced and ready to go, and AJ even had its batting cut to size. I really don't like the basting process: it's hard on my back to lean over the bed, the basting spray is stinky and sticky, and wrangling batting is tricky in the small space. Fortunately, it goes fairly quickly and then I can get back to the jovial Juki!

We're seeing lots more fall color along the Tennessee River in just one short week. My camera can only capture the prettiness when we're quite close to shore, but my eyeballs are enjoying the view. In a boat that only goes 8mph, there's plenty of time to stare at the scenery and also indulge in 15 minute sewing sessions.