I tried to smooth out the Blooming Beauty top and it just wasn’t working. I decided that if I removed the outer borders, it may give a bit of breathing room. Since I had quilted 5/8ths of it already I could only rip up the sides about a foot or so. Taking the bottom borders off helped a lot, I have to add about 2 inches across the bottom, and an inch to the sides, but it really helped with the fullness. The whole bottom third sort of relaxed, like when you unbutton your trousers after a big meal. This quilt is no longer square, but it is only for my personal use, and unless I point it out, no one will notice. Now I have to take the unfinished quilt off the frame fix the borders, remount it and finish quilting it. I will probably wait until after the Enchanted stars quilt is done, as that is the one with a deadline.

I have been working on ES for what seems an eternity at this point. Finished the piecing last Wednesday, and pinned it up to look at, promptly saw a problem area and fixed it. I put the backing on the frame and realized that I needed a black batting, and I didn’t have the rainbow colored thread I wanted to use. Ordered both from amazon and it was delayed a day, it got here on Saturday and I have been quilting it for what seems like hours. The custom quilting package(85 design pieces) is from Wasatch, and it is easy to use, just a lot of turning and resizing and placement. The pebbling looks really good though and I am happy I went with charcoal thread instead of black.

This quilt is small, 53″ square. I am wondering if my client will like it, as we had originally talked of it being a bed sized one. I guess they could use it as a throw, or hang it up.

I made a little progress on the baby sweater, made it through the German short rows and I am about three quarters through the raglan shoulder shaping. I may just do the lobster motif as a duplicate stitch after the sweater is done. I am having to concentrate on the shaping so much, that I fear adding another element into the works. Once the ES quilt is done I will have a bit more brain power to add to this project.

Oh yeah, while waiting for the batting to be delivered, I started the Thameside Ramble quilt. The pattern and booklet and rulers by Robin Ruth Designs are easy to work with and once you get the ruler use down, it goes fairly quickly. I made the first sunflower and then made the next three all together, I have the large center medallion cut and ready to sew. It will probably get done in October, as we have company arriving at the end of this week and there is cleaning and preparations to be done. I feel good about the start, and I am excited about this technique of strip piecing compasses rather than paper foundation piecing. So much so, that I bought another kit, for a tree skirt. In my defense, it was on sale 😉

Be Kind.