Quilting Elegant Garden

The bottom border of Elegant Garden is completely quilted. The two sides have been quilted from the center toward the botton border. 

I stitched in the ditch along the outside brown border.

I took a low light picture of the quilting. You can see the design but it doesn't jump out at you.

This is the stencil I've used for the borders, it is one of the first stencil I ever bought. 

Back in those days, stencils were made with a hard plastic which can easily crack and break. This one is in pretty good shape, it's been used on a lot of quilts.

Since the outside borders are quilted, I rolled the bottom edge up and started the center section. 

I'm stitching in the ditch on both sides of the brown border and along the seamlines in between the blocks and I'm glad to report the stitching is much easier now than the borders were. It was the pink fabric causing the problem. I've quilted the bottom half of the first block.

The background fabric is quilted using this diagonal design and all the applique is stitched in the ditch around it. The top petal of the lavender center flower is not quilted, I'll stitch that when I roll again. There are five blocks in each row, it will take awhile to make my way across the row.

Here is the stencil I'm using for the background.

It is a large stencil, it measures 14" in diameter but it works for smaller blocks also. I used this same stencil on my Hearts & Wreaths quilt but I didn't carry the lines into the corner of the blocks. I used another design in the corners.

I decided the dark variegated thread was too dark to use in the center blocks, I'm using a lighter variegated thread. You can't really tell the thread is variegated on the background of the above block but I've got the thread so I'm using it.

This is the same thread I quilted my Pastor's Attic Quilt with. I think there's enough thread on there to quilt this small quilt.

This thread I'm using is NOT mercerized. The white and cream threads from YLI are and I don't need to run my thread through Thread Heaven to make it stitch more easily. 

I keep my small box of Thread Heaven in my applique box.

I watch Sue from Small Things every Sunday on YouTube. She recommends using Mack's Pillow Soft Silicone Putty (which is used for swimmers) in place of Thread Heaven.

I bought some, it is very maleable but I need to run the thread through it several times while I'm quilting, not once and done. I think I prefer actual Thread Heaven but I'm not sure if it's available anymore. 

I was in Wakarusa last week and took pictures of the quilt gardens. First is the quilt garden downtown. It was a foggy day so I didn't have bright sunlight shining into my phone like normal.

The corners are red dahlias, they look rather drab and washed out. We have gotten a lot of rain the last week which is rather unusual in August. They're still working on this lot, I'm looking forward to seeing the final transformation from parking lot to a park.

Then I went to Grandma's Pantry. Those pink begonias look so bright and cheery with the dusty Miller growing in the star points. The center of the star holds pots of yellow mums. I think they'll transplant them into the center but maybe they'll just leave them sitting in there for the rest of the season.

Here is a link to Quilt Gardens Along the Heritage Trail.

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