30 Minutes of Quilting

I've been procrastinating. I need to get back to quilting 81 The Giant Monstrosity.

It is registered in my Guild's quilt show in September and time is passing quickly. Instead of working on 81 I've worked on other projects some of which are not as pressing. For example I got the next round of hexagons stitched to Lozagons.

The next component will be little units that look like crowns and I'll make them with a solid faded aqua-turquoise. Each is made of eight hexagons. You can them  in the original quilt which I am sharing with you with the permission of Lorraine at Granny Loz.

I also continue to work on the pattern testing for Missie at Traditional Primitives and am having fun. I can't wait to show you what I am doing! Missie has shared a few tools with me and I am loving them. One of them is her Finger Stiletto. It allows you to prep your applique pieces and protect your finger from that hot iron! Missie sells these stilettos in her online shop.

Another item she sent is a mini bottle of Roxanne Glue-Baste-It. This is a product that I love and use but the mini bottle is so handy! Unlike the larger bottle the applicator doesn't have to be cleaned when I'm finished. I can just screw the top on the little bottle and I am done!

Oopsie - looks like I'm procrastinating again! I started telling you about 81 and was quickly off topic! Here's the problem: 81 is very big. It measures 92" x 95". I had already quilted around all of the hexagons and stars and quilted the border but I need to go back and fill in the background from the middle out. And it is quilting the middle that has been holding me back. I decided maybe if I just parsed the quilting out in manageable chunks of time I would get some quilting done and the task would not be quite so daunting. I set a timer for 30 minutes to see what I could do. I threaded my Juki TL2010Q domestic sewing machine and got going. I also knew that once I got started I would enjoy myself and I would be happy with the results; the Juki quilts like a dream and I am IN LOVE with it! The harp is 9", 2" smaller than my Janome 7700 but there is no problem getting this big quilt under the machine! And it quilts like a dream even over bulky seams like those at the corners of my hexagons.

My plan was to just doodle different shapes and designs and am thrilled with how 81 is shaping up. I had quilted the middle of the rosette hexagons and three of the six star points of each star but as I got going I decided the hexagons would need more quilting so more quilting they shall have! This is what I was able to do in 30 minutes!

Here is a closer look at some of the quilting. I am happy with what I've done so far. So happy that I think I'll set the timer for another 30 minutes of quilting!

I am partial to these pea pods. They are easy to quilt, can be made in any shape and I love they way they add texture!

So many fun and interesting projects and not enough hours in the day! Speaking of fun and interesting projects, Block 8 of my Value Proposition Hexagon Quilt Along will be posted early Friday morning and it is a beauty!

Until I post again, happy 30 minutes of quilting to you all!
Karen H