I Finished My Pink Posey Quilt and Reached My Goal! HURRAH!

I worked and worked over the weekend, and last night at 11:47 PM, I FINISHED IT, and I remembered to sign it on the back using left overs of my binding for the borders. This afternoon I hung it on the wall in my bedroom so I can see it each morning when I awaken. I can’t believe I did it!  Never have I had the nerve to attempt to stipple a quilt using the darning foot with the feed dogs down on my Brother.  I’ve either quilted by the “stitch in the ditch” method or done it all by hand. All I read kept telling me I was going to have to take the plunge and just do it if I was ever going to get the knack of free hand stippling.  I sort of cheated a bit - I used invisible thread so all my mess-ups would not be so obvious.  Only at the very end did I try stitching using the on/off button and not the foot pedal...and I think that is what I should have done from the beginning to end up with my stitches all the same length. I did much better that way, and it seems I was also able to get the rhythm of moving the fabric up, down, and all around.  The key MUST be to keep the speed remaining the same and NOT pulling or pushing the fabric harder in one spot than the other.  If any quilters read this and have some suggestions-corrections-additions that will help me, PLEASE let me hear from you.  I would love to hear from you, and I won’t get my feeling hurt if you tell me I have got it all wrong. Also, if you have any suggestions on how to photograph completed quilts, I would love to know that, too. Anyway, now I can go to sleep tonight and not worry if I am going to finish it by the weekend because I did it.  I am such a happy little old quilter today!

~Our lives are like quilts - bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love.

Author Unknown

~Blessed are the children of the piecemakers for they shall inherit the quilts!

Author Unknown

Making Quilt Labels

Whenever I make a quilt or any sewn, knitted, or quilted gift, I make a label for it saying I made it, when, where, and for whom. On lap quilts and larger ones, I write the information on a rectangular piece of white muslin with a Pigma Micron archival in pen #01, sew a border around it using left over pieces of fabric, and then whip it to the back of the quilt by hand using small blind stitches. I select a font and size in Microsoft Word, type in the information, print it out, and then trace over it onto the muslin. For totes, large and small, I use Shrinky Dink plastic. Usually I use the frosted or clear sheets and write on them with Sharpie pens. I punch one hole in each corner before baking, and use those little holes for sewing the label to the item. For knitted hats and scarves, I punch only one hole in upper right hand corner of the Shrinky Dink, and then after baking I thread a piece of narrow gross grain ribbon through hole and tie the label to the item. Both styles are easy and lots of fun to make.