It works really well and goes together easily Elizabeth..the bonus being for you, if you started quilting them now as you finish making them..when you are done making blocks, you will be done quilting too!

I got the entire center section quilted today QITD to attach the backing. Tomorrow is to QITD between the tris and then finally get to do the trapunto and scallops...then DONE!! Man, that light in the tunnel is getting bigger !

I have a general question for you guys....do you clip off your tails or do you sew them in??? I take about 5 stitches with the setting on .05 when I start and stop..but I did leave pretty long tails this time. What do you do???

About that, Elizabeth, but I quilted right up to the edge of the blocks themselves. There are a lot more pics here somewhere of how I put everything together, but I finished around the middle of June last year, so you would have to go back a good few pages, sorry, I didn't keep a note of where they are, but I did post quite a few as I went along.

Elizabeth, look on page 310 and you'll see Lesley's explanation for how you sew to the edges and then attach the sashing strip. We had a discussion of it when I was putting mine together. It is sooo easy!

When I quilt and do the couple of stitches securing stitch, I will sometimes clip, but I never really trust it. I would say with all the work you have already done, just go ahead and bury those tails, better safe than sorry!! You can buy self threading needles that will help you do this faster. (If my dang store was up by now, I could even sell them to you there!! Haha ..... long story ..... sigh) I can't believe you are so close to done!!! I can't wait to see her once you are all the way finished. :)

Cheers!
Rachel

Mmmmm........I went to pg. 310 and saw how Lesley pieced the borders and the batting together but am I missing something with the backing? Where does the backing come in? :shock:

after she quilted the blocks and the batting and sewed all the rows together then she added the backing and did sitd to secure the backing to the rest.

Thanks everyone - it can be frustrating to have to go to bed in the middle of a discussion. Thanks Patti for the info of where some of my pics were, I really should make a note of it for latecomers.

I'm sorry if what I did is confusing, as I will admit to it not being a conventional way of doing things. At the time, I didn't have a big machine that I could push this quilt through, and anyway I wanted to hand quilt it if possible. I came up with this solution to elminate having a big heavy quilt all over my lap for a long time. I did hand quilt in the ditch to attach my backing behind the blocks with their batting already quilted, but at least with that, I only had to stitch straight lines, so not much in the way of turning, stopping or starting compared to trying to do the whole thing at once.

Patti has made it even quicker by doing the SITD by machine, so that is another solutiong to the problem. I am dying to see hers done, and get her reactions to the sense of achievement that washes over you. (well it did with me, and I would love everyone to get that rush).

Thank you for explaining Luv! Now I get it :shock: I didn't want to machine sitd after all that hand quilting on the top! Then I seen Lesley's post where she hand quilted the sitd. I hadn't heard or thought of doing that before. And also thinking of what small stitches can be made with hand quilting just through the top and batting not having to worry about the underside! :thumbup: I have to thank Lesley again for this great technique! I can actually start hand quilting some of my blocks now! :lol:

Yes you can Elizabeth! It does go quickly. I chose to do my SITD to attach the backing for a couple of reasons. 1st of all, it doesn't show at all (except on the back), so why go to all the extra work and it would take even more time, plus my back side stitches are not very pretty..they end up looking like pin pricks. Anyway, I'm almost finished attaching the backing (at least have the center section done)..it took a couple of days.

Go for it Elizabeth - you will be so pleased with yourself when you are making the last few blocks, and you have a big pile of already quilted ones.

Patti, that's just how my hand quilting looks on the back, because I don't seem able to get a proper looking stitch on the back, if I want a small stitch on the front. I have watched videos on how to do it, but I still can't seem to get the knack. I wish I knew someone who can, and then I could watch it 'in person'.

I just wanted it all hand done, and I also thought I might be in danger of getting tucks on the back if I machined it, and I tend to fall off the ditch sometimes too.