Hand quilted evidence

I cannot believe it, but here is the evidence...I hand quilted something and finished it!  The quilt police will be out to inspect and fine me, but I don't care!  Part way through freely quilting a pattern (four orange peels) in the red squares I remembered your suppose to mark the pattern!  But they turned out OK and if they didn't it was no bother to pull them out and re do.  I finished the quilting while we were away in the caravan, but it took me all week to pick the binding and sew it on.  I like the black binding, but definitely a first for me!

This little basket quilt was a free pattern from Temecula Quilt Co and she made 113 of these cake stand blocks (link to pattern is HERE) ...big deal you say, well they are 2.5" square, so yes they were FIDDLY and making nine was enough for me!  I laid my 6 x 12" ruler behind it to give you some idea of the scale.  I am disappointed that I cut some of the points off, but I am hoping one day to learn some secrets to accurate piecing of miniatures.  Secrets that probably apply to normal quilting, eg fine tune your quarter inch!

 I dragged out my box containing my blocks and fabric, set aside for the Farm House Kitchen quilt this weekend.  This quilt had been in progress so long its now a UFO.  I started with a great deal of enthusiasm and was stumped when I got to the applique bit.  I use to be a reasonably good at needle turn (with freezer paper) applique.   But somewhere in the middle of raising two babies I ditched hand work for quick machine piecing and lost my skills and my confidence.

 There is another UFO that involves applique in my cupboard - the shapes are fiddly.  And I found that a few hours in front of the TV this weekend with some simple shapes has restored my memory, skills and confidence.  Mind you those cherries are a bit ordinary, but once I find my Perfect Circles (already pulled the house upside down) I will be able to rectify that.  I also had to make these four pieced baskets.  That involved a bit of fiddly as the blocks are different and not on point like the rest of them (about 15 in total).  I didn't want my fruit to be lying sideways.  So I re engineered the pattern to suit myself.

These blocks are next, to be filled with plums and apples, plus some handles.  I have sewn the centre seam with a very long stitch on my machine, so it is easy to unpick and continue my hand work beyond the seam line.  I will go back later and stitch it properly.  Not sure if this is the standard way of doing things, just my preference, I am worried about stretching the bias edge of the triangle if its not joined.  Now I just have to keep up the enthusiasm, as this quilt was planned to be my "summer" bed quilt, so I have eight months to get it finished!

Happy quilting, Sue SA.