Arcs and curlicues

I never intended to be only a weekly blogger, but that seems about all I'm managing for now. This heat leaves me quite lethargic - how long until summer realises she's over-stayed her welcome? - nearly 2 weeks later and we're still nudging 40!

 I don't really have a lot to show for my week; I've been working on instructions (not very exiting or visually appealing!) spent a lot of time refining quilt designs (which I can't share because they're with my editor) and then dithering over fabric selection for my next quilt (peek above). I knew when I designed this one that the curlicues would require a lot of time and effort for something so small, but the effect is definitely worth it. It's the cutting and appliqueing which take the most time; quiltign around them will be much faster, especially if I decide to free-motion that part.

After finishing the Linen and Lace table runner, I have got back into quilting the project I was working on before I interrupted its progress.  These arcs are free-motion quilted. I divide the border into sections of equal size, then find a suitable glass or bowl to draw around to give the effect I want, connecting the small marks I've made to delineate the sections.

In this case I decided my sections would work well matching up with the blocks making the next border, so used the seamlines instead of marking. I did, however, mark about 1cm either side of the seams, to guide marking the echoing arcs, and the mid-way points to mark in the alternate set of arcs.