Hand quilting progress

I'm enjoying hand quilting again so much! And there is no sign of any pain in my hands from arthritis - a definite miracle in my book. The first three fingers on my left hand are starting to develop their touch callouses again from being pricked a tiny bit with each stitch. As long as I quilt a little each day they will stay this way - getting tougher and tougher the longer I quilt.

At least one person commented that they liked the cable on the quilt sashing. I liked the cable also when I stitched the first one, but it wasn't in proportion to the width of the sashing. I was using a stencil, as this was before I learned to create my own quilting templates and stencils. When I'd finished two cables I realized the proportions were really bothering me. That's when I decided to quilt 1/4" from each edge. Much better as far as balancing the sashing quilting with the rest of the quilting, but rather strange looking. The more I looked at it the more I disliked it. The cable was slow going, so I finished the 1/4" from the seam stitching on all the sashings. Then I put it away for several years. When I got it back out last weekend I realized I still thought the sashing was very strange looking with a skinny cable running down between two straight lines of stitching. That's when I knew it was time to rip out the cable. If I were starting from scratch today I'd just draft a cable the width of the space between the two lines - too late now since the lines are stitched in every strip of sashing. The pencil I'm using is supposed to wash out - I sure hope it does! I have a fall back formula of dishwashing liquid and a couple other things for getting out pencil - just in case I need it.

The good news is the sashing quilted up WAY faster this way, and as of now is almost all done. That will leave a single row of blue stitching down the center of the narrow inner border, and something on the outer border. The quilting on this will be done soon - hooray! I guess I'd better start searching my stash for fabric that coordinates so I can have my binding ready.

I always handquilted my quilts almost to death, because I love the visual texture created when light hits the quilting. This quilt was no exception. I've posted a couple blocks so you could see the quilting - these are the best shots I could get.

It will be such a good thing to cross this one off my list of flimsies!

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Gratitudes:

1. A cool morning breeze with just a hint of mist caressing my cheek

2. A fat, ripe Italian prune

3. Three quilt backings prepared and a fourth that needs only one seam stitched

4. Customer quilts coming in from several unexpected sources

5. Chili dogs for dinner - first time in ages!