I've missed hand quilting in the evenings and on Sunday afternoons so Elegant Garden has been placed into the hand quilting frame. I last posted about Elegant Garden in my May 18, 2025 post. The flimsy measures 60.5" square.
The flimsy has been basted to the batting and backing. There will be no quilting in the outside brown edge. The seam line will be stitched in the ditch.
Right now I'm quilting the pink border and it stitches hard. I'm not sure if it's the pink fabric or the backing or what the problem is. I'll see what it quilts like when I get to the inside individual blocks, it's too late to change anything now. I'll quilt for shorter amounts of time so my thumbs don't get too tired.
I had an appointment last week with Dr. Schramm, a hand specialist. I wasn't expecting to be told that the pain at the base of my thumbs was caused by arthritis! 😧 I got shots in the base of both thumbs, that helps but I'm not pain free. Oh well, I can still stitch!
I plan to quilt the pink border on the 3 sides of the quilt then start quilting the center blocks from the bottom. I wasn't able to get the 4th side in the frame. I'll quilt to the center row of the quilt then unpin and move the top edge into the frame. Not a problem, I do this all the time.
The quilting design doesn't show well on the pink fabric but I did take a picture of the quilting on the back side. The backing fabric is from one of Robert Kaufman's fusion collections. I bought a whole bolt.
The thread I'm using is a YLI variegated thread I purchased years ago. I must have quilted something else with this thread because it's not a full spool but I have no idea what the other project was. There is plenty of thread to finish Elegant Garden.
I think this thread works well with the civil war fabrics in the quilt. The colors range from a cream to rust to a reddish brown to dark brown. I'm not sure I'll use it on the inside blocks though, it might be too dark.
Elegant Garden is designed by Edyta Sitar, Laundry Basket quilts.
Our Pennsylvania son and DIL were visiting last Sunday. Hannah was looking at my flowerbeds and noticed the butterfly weed plants were full of monarch caterpillars! Some of caterpillars were tiny, only an inch long. On Tuesday afternoon, we had a tornado warning/straight line winds come through our area. (We had no damage.) I wondered how the caterpillars fared.
There weren't as many on this plant as there were earlier but there were some. The caterpillars travel from plant to plant. There are plenty of other plants to shelter in from the wind.
These little guys are huge compared to what they had been just a few days earlier. The plant is definitely showing evidence of being munched on.In the above picture of the butterfly weed, you can see the seed pods. When they dry, I remove them and scatter the seeds along the roadside ditch and the edge of the trees. Someday I hope there is a huge swath of butterfly weed growing along there.
I don't gather the caterpillars and care for them like some people do. I just provide butterfly weed for them to eat and grow on. Butterfly weed is in the milkweed family, it has the same white sticky same as regular milkweed.
Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell, Handmade Monday, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday
6 comments:
Such a gorgeous quilt!
Sorry the quilting has been hard going, the arthritis doesn't help I'm sure. It will certainly be worth it, it's a gorgeous quilt.
Elegant Garden is looking absolutely lovely in the frame! There’s something so satisfying about seeing a quilt slowly come alive through hand quilting, especially with those warm Civil War-era fabrics and the variegated thread. The pink border sounds like a workout, though, so taking shorter stitching sessions is definitely a smart move. I also love that the same thread can bring out those cream, rust, and brown tones without making the quilt feel too busy.
It’s inspiring to see a project continue despite a few aches and unexpected challenges. I’m looking forward to seeing how the center blocks look once the quilting progresses. boomerangbet also makes for an interesting little stop when browsing online.
Elegant Garden is a beauty, I hop the border will be easier to quilt later. Sorry for the pain in the fingers, arthritis is not fun and I hope the shots will do their job. Pretty variegated thread! I love these colorful caterpillars! Thank you for sharing and linking up.
I have arthritis in both of my thumbs too. The shots help for quite a while. I have found that a hand therapist has worked for the long term though. The exercises that I was taught have meant that I haven't needed another shot since the first one I was given. I have some fabrics that have surprised me with how difficult they are to hand quilt. It can be very frustrating. The latest quilt on the frame is very pretty.
Elegant Garden is beautiful. I hate that it’s a chore to quilt. Hope it improves. I think it’s awesome that that you scatter butterfly weed seeds all around.
Post a Comment