a quilt I've been working on

This is a quilt I have been working on. I saw the idea out on the web looking at quilting videos and ran across videos to make an inexpensive quilting table around my sewing machine. This led to Marguerita McManus' YouTube site and web site. I watched the videos, was intrigued, so I bought the book Crazy Shortcut Quilts. The quilt is 48" by 72" what I call afghan size.



This method of quilting is so much easier than trying to quilt the whole thing at once. You quilt each block separate, then set the blocks together with small binding strips. I think it is easier than some of the other quilt-as-you-go methods. I intend to use it with other quilts that I make in the future.



I used stitch-in-the-ditch for the quilting. I am not fond of stippling as I think it distracts from the piecing and can make the quilt too stiff. I think part of my feelings on this may come from a background in hand quilting. You want your quilting to coordinated with the piecing and to be a delightful surprise. At the very least it shouldn't distract from the piecing and a lot of stippling I have seen does just that.



I was so eager to do the quilting I forgot to plan the back as a result I have same colored backing blocks beside each other when I arranged the front side. When it dawned on me, I wasn't about to unpick all those blocks. So, it has become a design element. (wink,wink)



Do you see the ice cream cones? I found this material in Mother's stash. There wasn't much! I think it made great binding strips on the back.



I am almost done, I have two end borders to quilt and then bind. When I am finished I will post another picture with better lighting.

I added a light over my cutting board and a rack that I am going to put my craft books in, I think.



I found my desk lamp for my sewing table in a box of computer stuff of Hubby's. Now I can see to sew!



Gratuitous pictures of the cat, Critter.





Need to get back to sewing. Have a good day! Judy