Groan it is Basting Time…

Groan, it is Basting Time  My Summer Gatherings quilt top is all done and ready for basting. Like most quilters, I don’t like the process of basting very much. My method is to use the family room floor and crawl around on my hands and knees for however long it takes to do a good job. And it does take a long time! My back and knees hurt by the time I’m done, but since I quilt my own quilts – what choice do I have?

I’ve seen some strange alternative techniques, but I just don’t believe any of them would work for me. I’ll just do this until I’m too old and crumbly to do it myself. Then I’ll probably stick to small projects or send out my quilts to the long arm folks.

The backing I got for my Summer Gatherings quilt is so perfect. Funny that it is Japanese because I think it looks made for my top fabrics.
Thank you Dog Under My Desk for the fantastic ear bud tutorial. I fussy cut this one – even the lining, but it still was so fast! I think I could make one for everyone on my Christmas list today if I had to.

I made a Christmas present the other day for a woman who will be retiring from my workplace.  Shirley has been a helper to me for about twelve years, and I’m going to miss her!  So, she rated a lovely one-0f-a-kind Mug Rug, or mini-quilt, or whatever you want to call it.  Picture above. (More on Flickr).

My last little show ‘n tell here is my little pillow. This embroidery pattern was so cute I knew I wanted to make it. Still, it can be hard to decide what to do with your stitching work. “Okay, so I’ll have yet another pillow”,  I thought. I used some Crab Apple Hill photos as inspiration and made one with the same fat quarter I made my ear bud case with (now that is frugal!) and some wide rickrack. I like the way it came out and so does my doggins!

Happy Quilting!

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