Quilt Along: Quilting the thing!

I have been getting ready to quilt the quilt!  Yep!  2 hours and 5000 safety pins later, and I am finally at the quilting stage!  I can't believe it either!  So I settled in with my Coke and Netflix, and I went to town!  (Nothing like a little Dexter to help things along).


So It all seemed very overwhelming... and this is why it has taken me so very long to get this part started.  I was afraid.  This seemed like the hardest part!  






Surprise!  I have found the most fun step!  This is the easiest part (for me... not sure how others feel).  If you can get a handle on manipulating the quilt though the machine, there's really not much more to it!  I so enjoyed this part...  It's a straight line technique... so you literally just follow the fabric rows.

There's the quilt top without the borders.  I was working nights last week and so it took me the entire week to sew on the borders.  Seriously.

This is the quilt sandwich.  The backing on the bottom, batting in the middle and the quilt top.  This part was time consuming to get it all flat... and searching for an extension cord for the iron ate up a good chunk of my time... I am in iron envy of my friend right now.. she has a cordless one.  I was cursing her during this step and kicking myself for not asking to borrow it!  (Next time, Steph, be advised I will be borrowing unless I have found a nice one like yours to buy for myself!!)

Here's what it looks like when I try to do anything.  Obviously I need a big pile of trains and rocks on the ironing board... What was I thinking trying to do this quilt without!?

Ok, so for the pinning... I did NOT realize that I would need 5000 safety pins & so I had to run out and grab more.  So, I get to the store and I panic because the quilt is out on the living room floor and I'm not entirely sure when hubby is bringing the kids home from a bday party.  I'm frantically texting him from the store to say DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LET THE KIDS UPSTAIRS IF YOU GET HOME BEFORE ME!

And then.... no reply.... I was almost sweating in the store, let me tell you.... I just had all these visions of the three, plus the friend they had with them, walking with their grubby little feet all over my beautiful, just straightened & flattened out, quilt.  The stress was almost too much... I had to get HOME!

I came home to find that they weren't back yet.  And then I laughed alone in my car at the crazy quilting panic attack I had just endured.

Anyway, moving on....  Pinning... I seriously recommend that you have millions of pins!

There's the baby (with his sleeper undone) helping me get photos.. and if you look up to the right you will see the middle child's legs also.  So I suppose the crazy quilting panic attack was actually warranted... look see!  One's on the quilt and one's thinking about it! (Its all pinned with safety pins at this point and their feet are clean).

Finally, here is a shot of the progress in the actual quilting.  I think it looks absolutely wonderful and fabulous!  (I'm so proud of this so far!  My very first quilt and I have had very few mess-ups and I think my sewing is STRAIGHT in most places!)

I can't wait to share the final product!  I am back to work tomorrow so I'm hoping to get a LOT done this evening!  Fingers crossed!