Hand-quilting on both projects in the frames continues. I can actually see the end of the "Chimney Sweep" quilt (this one:)



coming along. I have a few edge blocks left to do, and the border, but the border is less tedious than I feared it would be.

I'm considering what quilt to put in the small hoop next. I think the pvc frame is best for larger quilts (Well, some of the lap-sized ones might not be big enough to fit in it easily, even). But the smaller hoop is better for smaller quilts. So I'm going to have to decide if I want to start the "Dozen Roses" quilt or the "Sea Glass" quilt in there next. Neither of them would require much marking (a tedious part of quilting, and something you need a fairly large area to lay the quilt out in to do). The "Sea Glass" quilt I'm going to quilt from the "wrong" side, using the design in the backing fabric for the quilt design. And the "Dozen Roses" quilt is going to have just diagonal lines (quilted like an X) in each square, and then something in the border. I have a lot of border stencils I can use, I'll just have to look at them. (Oh, I think I have one with bunnies and dandelions...that would be cute given the fact that there are several animal-themed prints in the quilt).

It's funny, when I get away from hand-quilting or hand-sewing for a while, I forget how peaceful it is to work on. (Well, of course, knitting is, too). The nice thing about a lot of these things - maybe not quilting so much, because you've got the frame - is that they're portable and you can take them with you on vacation, or you can take them outdoors if it's a nice day and you fancy working outdoors.

(I've read that the old "quilting by firelight" in Colonial times is largely a myth - which makes sense to me, you need good light to quilt by and a fire won't provide it - but that during the slack times in the summer, when there wasn't as much planting or harvesting to be done, farmwives would take their quilting frames out into the dooryard on sunny days and quilt outside. And while it's far too hot here in the summer to quilt outside, I can imagine a bright clear summer day in, say, Pennsylvania, where it's not too hot and there's a nice breeze - it would be pleasant to quilt outside. Even more so if your children could be playing nearby and easy to keep an eye on, or you could wave to neighbors walking by on the path.)

I also wonder - and I suppose this is really purely superstition and expectation on my part, but still - if taking Faith's quilt frame and setting it up and using it somehow imbued me with some of her good quilting mojo? Or, on a less speculative way of thinking: I feel like using the frame that was hers allows me to honor her and remember her a little. I thought I'd feel kind of sad seeing the frame set up in my bedroom and thinking about how and why I got it, but, kind of like looking at the crochet work my grandmother did makes me think about her and feel close to her, even though she's gone, having Faith's quilt frame makes me feel happy, happy that I knew her and sometimes got to quilt with her.

I'm also happy to note that I have one repeat left to do of the waffle stitch on Thermal before I start dividing to do the placket. I may work on that some this afternoon.