Thursday, 26 April 2012

Accidental double batting

Well, not quite, but it wasn't exactly planned, either!

I'd almost finished piecing another quilt top when Simon took the ironing board this evening. Given he was actually going iron the family's clothes, I didn't object, but I couldn't proceed with piecing without pressing, so I went back to finalise a quilting design. I got far enough that I was ready to start on it, so I got ready to sandwich the quilt. I prefer to use a wool/cotton batting, and for the last few years have been buying it by the bolt, but had a piece of 100% cotton batting lying around from ages ago. I often check if it's the right size for what I'm doing, and so far it never has been. But today it was inch-perfect in both length and width. Only I found it was a bit thinner than the wool/cotton, and given I have plans to do some special quilting, I didn't want it it disappear due to the thin batting. So I'm countering the advantages of finding the perfect sized quilt for the batting, and doubling-up; the cotton plus a layer of the wool/cotton blend. On the plus side though - the end of my roll of batting was also just the right length!

I've not done this before, and it only occurred to me as I was finishing pin-basting the four layers, that I think I've only seen it done by long-arm quilters. It will be interesting to see how this goes. My quilting design is inspired by the style of Judi, of Green Fairy Quilts fame. I'm also trying out the air-erasable pens which she uses. However, I'm under no illusions, it's not as intricate as her quilting, it won't be as perfect, and I won't be putting in the massive amount of hours that she does. But I'm looking forward to doing it.

I've got the structure worked out, and have determined how I'm going to fill a lot of the spaces, but a few spaces will have to wait until the rest is done for inspiration to strike. As much as I want to fill some of them with feathers, I suspect feathers won't quite suit - but for now the very idea is precluding other ideas, so I'll get on with what I can.

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