It became a huge waste of space, which is a shame when you're talking about top of the line machinery. My brain just won't combine the joys of a well functioning machine with the magic of creativity. I've always just had to create by hand, and I can't stay inspired with the raw ultility of machine quilting.
I don't know if it will sell this way, but somehow it will have to. I have concluded, with true finality, that machine quilting is not for me.
Since it's been gone, I have gone and finished another quilt top. See, I don't even like sitting at my little Kenmore when I'm creating. It's why piecing takes forever!
This simple patchwork was meant to be a practice piece on the quilting machine, heh. Most of those fabrics are super cheap-o Joann specials. And there it is on my very first full size ironing board! I finally basted it over the weekend, which took me two hours. I started in the dining room, where after pinning it, I noticed a big wrinkle in the backing. So I had to unpin it and take it apart. Then I decided to move ALL the furniture out of my living room and get out the masking tape. That worked much better! But I am still hurting from the acrobatics.
I took a private poll among friends, and this is the quilting design they voted for:
In three days, I've only just finished one large motif. I need to build up the muscle in my right upper arm again. It's been a long while since I've done serious hand-quilting. And this quilt is monstrous compared to the small projects I'm used to.
As for the Gemini quilt, it needs to wait until I come up with the right border idea. I am not rushing that quilt. If I'm not completely proud of it when it's finished, it will have been a failure. Maybe quilting this simple patchwork will keep my mind open to creative ideas.
