The bad and the ugly of quilting...and the tedious too.

Two projects had a deadline of about...now.  Neither are going to be completed.  Sometimes, it's just what it is.  You run out of time.  Luckily, My Youngest, whose birthday has come and gone, was just fine with her loot. So, that means she is going to get an early fall present...maybe it'll be a first day of school present.  I am not going to fret too much about not getting it done.

This is what I've been working on with Her Quilt over the last little while, and if there's any part of the quilting process I don't like, it's these next three things...

1.  Basting your quilt.  Luckily I have discovered spray basting and it's awesome...except when you gas yourself.  But, you do get your flimsies so much smoother and you don't break your back in the process.

Here's the front in it's entirety as it's being spray basted.

And the back.  The thing about putting together the back of a quilt...it takes just as much fabric as the front....aka... A LOT!  So I'm always surprised when I think the yard of fabric I have left over from piecing the front isn't enough to make up the entire back.  So then I start having fun and just piecing things together and then I end up with a mish-mash of fabric goodness.  It's the back...it's all good!  Plus it's fun to just sew whatever you want with no real rhyme or reason.

2.  Marking my sew lines.  UGGGGHHHHH!! I do not like marking my lines.  It's time consuming and you have to be all hunched over and it takes forever.  If there's any reason for strictly stitching in the ditch...Term of the day...Stitch in the Ditch:  To sew right next to your seams...ahem, if there's any reason for only stitching in the ditch, it is to avoid having to draw on sew lines.  BORING.

Next thing I don't like about quilting...

3.  Machine Quilting.   I would recommend hand quilting almost always, except for maybe a small piece...I guess you could machine quilt...If you were desperate, that is.  It is boring and you have to roll up the excess quilt and it's unwieldy and a struggle to keep things straight.  I know, I know, I am completely in the minority here.  People love  to machine quilt.  Except me.  I do not like to machine sew my quilts.  There, I've confessed.  It might be old fashioned, but if you hand sew, you can be with your family (if like me your sewing machine is located in the dungeon of your house), you can really enjoy your handy-work and take some sweet time with it, and there's just something relaxing about hand stitching.

 I know that machine quilting is much faster...but being fast isn't all it's cracked up to be.  I really like to take my time and enjoy the quilting process.  If you have to be FAST FAST FAST all the time, where's the fun in that? 

In fact, I might do something crazy, machine quilt my long, straight lines...because they're almost done...and hand quilt the middle hexagons...I am seriously considering this.  I'll keep you posted. 

So, here's what I am saying...Hand quilt, stitch in the ditch style.  You'll be so much happier.  Also, don't let these 3 aspects make you re-think quilting.  Quilting is an amazingly creative process that keeps me happy.  It allows me to express myself and make something beautiful and useful for my household.  Plus, even though they are my least favorite part of quilting, the only one that you have to do is baste.  You don't have to machine quilt and you don't have to draw on sew lines.  So, HA!  Take that the 3 things I don't like to do.

Thanks for reading!

Heather