Only ten years....

I did finish the quilt that had been in the frame for the past ten years. (I remember that I put it in and started quilting over mid-fall break of 2002). Well, almost finished: I got the binding machine-sewn on, but am still working on the handsewing part.That will take a while, seeing as the quilt is about 2 1/2 yards on a side (it is nearly square).

I also got the next quilt prepped and in the frame. I had forgotten what an ordeal this can be. I ironed the backing and decided to go ahead and lay it out on the floor (at that point I was planning on stitching the binding on the completed quilt first) but then when I spread it out on the living room floor (after moving the piano and the coffee table) I realized it took up so much space that I wouldn't be able to easily do anything in that room until the quilt top was basted. I had also taped it down to the floor and I don't like to leave tape too long.

So I laid out the batting (which had been sitting airing for a couple months....yeah, I though I'd be done with that quilt a lot earlier) and the top, and set to basting.

It took about two hours of crawling around on the floor to get the thing basted to my satisfaction. But it's in the frame now ready for me to start.

I decided to do the Dozen Roses quilt as my next quilt. Mostly it will just be straight quilting (diagonal corner to corner lines in each square), but I found a really cute simple mouse border pattern, so I put that on the border (it was a lot less effort to mark the border than I remembered.)

Then, on Sunday, I did the binding cutting and preparation (and machine-sewing on) for the quilt I just took out of the frame, and also the quilt for my niece (they use the same fabric for binding - a plain solid yellow). I can pick away at sewing the bindings down as I have time. (I also plan on embroidering labels for both quilts).