KISS Quilting

Many, many years ago I participated in a block swap at a quilting retreat at Sylvan Lake. We each made 12 identical blocks and swapped.  What we ended up with were 12 blocks in different colours.  I dutifully sewed them together and put the top away for later quilting.  I am not sure how old the top is, but I would guess at least 5 years old, probably much more!

The blocks were to be 9 1/2" finished.  Some weren't....so I simply added a black border around each block and trimmed to make them all 12 1/2" finished.  Not sure why the extra 1/2" on the block size, but there you have it.

I found some black batik with little dots of colour that was a perfect match to use for the backing and binding.   I machine stitched the binding to the back side of the quilt and folded the binding to the front and machine stitched it in place.

I loaded that puppy on the Handi Quilter Avante (Aster) and stitched away.  I remembered to start the timer and look at that!   It only took me 22 minutes and 26 seconds of actual stitching time to get that puppy done.   It was a total of almost 1 hour to load, thread and advance the quilt on the frame and stitch.

I did stitch with a slightly larger design than I usually do, but I wanted to show a group of ladies how quickly they could get their own quilts quilted.  I used WonderFil's Silco cotton thread in the needle and DecoBob in the bobbin.

We had a group of Friday sew day ladies in 2 weeks ago.  It was their first time at the centre and wanted a tour.  We showed them around the studio and explained the training and rental program for the Handi Quilter Avantes and Sweet Sixteens. I was getting ready to load and quilt this and told the ladies that I would do this quilt and then in the afternoon load some fabric for them to play.

I used a very large all over double loop and leaf design.  At first I thought this would not be enough coverage and I still think I may do the next one with the designs a bit closer....but, 22 minutes of stitching.  I've really got to get going and finish some of the tops I have left lying around!  Maybe I'll have some Christmas gifts finished in time this year.

We do have some charity quilts that need to be quilted if anyone wants to come to the studio and practice.