Cherry Blossom Quilt is basted and the quilting has begun!

Yesterday I wrote about how I match up the print on the backing. To do this I determined where the repeat fell and how much extra fabric there was so I would know which side to press and how much room I had. I had about eight inches extra on one strip  and about four inches on the other. I decided to work with the strip with 4 extra inches. I turned under the edge about 2" and pressed it so there was a nice sharp crease. I then lined up the folded edge on the other side of the backing and lined up the print and pinned about 1 1/2" away from the crease. I peeled back the creased edge and used a fabric glue stick to lightly glue baste the backing together. Once the glue was set I folded the right sides together and sewed on the crease line. The excess fabric was then trimmed away leaving a 3/8" " seam allowance which I pressed open. Here is the seam and the print lined up quite nicely!

 

 

So once the backing was prepped it was time to prepare for pin basting. I'll be using Hobb's 80/20 batting. Once interesting fact I just learned after many years of quilting is that batting has a right and wrong side. Who knew? Certainly not me! The side that is to face up (i.e. next to the quilt top) on the Hobb's batting is the knobbly side.

 



And so now the quilting can begin! I'm anchoring all the major seams with stitch in the ditch so that the entire quilt top inside the border is stabilized.

Then I'll quilt the border design and bind the quilt. You can read more about how I do this here. Finally I'll go back an quilt the details in the centre!

This is a rough sketch of what I'm considering quilting in the border. I think I'll quilt the spine with invisible thread and then go back with a pale pink thread to quilt the petals and I'll use a neutral colour of The Bottom Line for the filler design. I'm not crazy about the echoing so I may do one or three echoes and then micro stipple. I'll have to give it some thought.

I also used my technique for sneaky mitred corners and these are the leftover bits. There are four pairs of triangles. The border is made up of a 1" pink strip and two one inch strips sewn together make a 1 1/2" strip. The perfect size for my nine patch blocks! So I'll be chopping up these bits to make more nine patches.

And here is the first! I cut a 1 1/2" strip of the pink and white and then sub-cut it into four 1 1/2" squares. The block is set out on a flannel design square ready to be used as a leader and ender!

 

And how about a quick look in the garden?

 

Dahlia

 

Hens and Chicks getting ready to bloom

Ironweed and gentian

 

Species clematis going to seed

I was about to get some nice pictures of a young cardinal until it saw this!!!!

 

Forest Gumby

Until I post again, happy sewing!