Small trips for Lia
05-07-2026, 06:32 AM
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Southern USA
Posts: 2,361
Small trips for Lia
Good morning quilters! I made the Playing the Scales quilt intending it to be for Lia. Lia has been our daughters foreign exchange student from Switzerland this year. My SIL said if I make her a quilt he would pay extra airport weight for it to go home with her. After making the Playing the Scales, I wasn’t happy with it so I made this one. It’s off the free pattern Bonnie Hunter has of Small Trips. When I made runners recently, Lia like the design of trips and my daughter said she likes the color purple, so I hope she likes this quilt. I may go ahead and quilt the PTScales so she can have a choice and then who knows. Her farewell party is the 24th and she returns home to Switzerland on the 4th. Made entirely from stash from friends and myself. It has been washed and dried and now is 61x83.5
On another note, I surrendered to the fact I can’t get up and down anymore from the floor. I usually duct tape my ironed backing to the floor, layer with batting, then my top. I then am having to get on all fours to pin. This means up & down about 8 times as I can’t stay long in that position. The last time I tried to get up I just couldn’t by myself. My knees were killing me and I couldn’t even turn to sit. When my almost 80 year old husband caught me under the arms to help I was afraid he would hurt himself. We managed to let me fall over on the sofa to where I ended up crying. I hate the fact that I can’t do what I want bc of age and pain from previously broken bones.
I know they show other ways to layer the quilt but I know this way I for sure don’t have a pinched backing. Everything remains smooth, top and backing. However, today I plan to go to town and buy a can of spray to glue layers together. I have only done this once before but I did it with help and instruction from a fellow quilter at a place where she sews. She had clamps she clamped the quilt down in sections, spayed, readjusted and repeated until we had the whole quilt layers qlued. I didn’t have a problem with pinching but I can’t ask her to meet me every time I need a quilt sprayed. I would need some clamps too and not sure if they will clamp on my table. I will let you know how this works out for me if I get to do it.
After pinning these layers that afternoon I was hurting so bad, I did nothing else. I quilted 2 days on this quilt bc my arms would just give out. I just wish I had found ‘my love of quilting’ when I was younger. That’s one reason I’m starting my granddaughter Nora quilting. She just finished her second quilt, a baby quilt. She doesn’t know I have it quilted. I taped it to my table so like the runners, I can do smaller things with no problem.
Anyway, do you like this quilt for Lia?
On another note, I surrendered to the fact I can’t get up and down anymore from the floor. I usually duct tape my ironed backing to the floor, layer with batting, then my top. I then am having to get on all fours to pin. This means up & down about 8 times as I can’t stay long in that position. The last time I tried to get up I just couldn’t by myself. My knees were killing me and I couldn’t even turn to sit. When my almost 80 year old husband caught me under the arms to help I was afraid he would hurt himself. We managed to let me fall over on the sofa to where I ended up crying. I hate the fact that I can’t do what I want bc of age and pain from previously broken bones.
I know they show other ways to layer the quilt but I know this way I for sure don’t have a pinched backing. Everything remains smooth, top and backing. However, today I plan to go to town and buy a can of spray to glue layers together. I have only done this once before but I did it with help and instruction from a fellow quilter at a place where she sews. She had clamps she clamped the quilt down in sections, spayed, readjusted and repeated until we had the whole quilt layers qlued. I didn’t have a problem with pinching but I can’t ask her to meet me every time I need a quilt sprayed. I would need some clamps too and not sure if they will clamp on my table. I will let you know how this works out for me if I get to do it.
After pinning these layers that afternoon I was hurting so bad, I did nothing else. I quilted 2 days on this quilt bc my arms would just give out. I just wish I had found ‘my love of quilting’ when I was younger. That’s one reason I’m starting my granddaughter Nora quilting. She just finished her second quilt, a baby quilt. She doesn’t know I have it quilted. I taped it to my table so like the runners, I can do smaller things with no problem.
Anyway, do you like this quilt for Lia?
05-08-2026, 02:24 AM
#6
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Dunwoody, GA
Posts: 162
Toogie, looks great. If Lia likes the color purple, she'll love this!! Have you thougth about quilting-as-you-go? Maybe assembling rows and then QAYG each row to the batting/backing? I understand your pain wiht doing it on the floor. That was my method too, till it wasn't. Luckily I have a tall table i can use. I am 85 so each quilt is more of a challenge. I try to keep my quilts about 50"x70" so i can still handle them. A couple Aleve are my quilting buddies too.
05-08-2026, 03:52 AM
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Davenport, Iowa
Posts: 4,381
Toogie....I use the pool noodle way of sandwiching quilts. They can be used on a counter top, breakfast bar, etc, and I honesty don't have to worry about wrinkles or threads left behind as you can see them while rolling and remove what is necessary. it's the only way to sandwich a quilt and takes 3 noodles that the total cost is less than $8. Give it a try.
05-08-2026, 01:40 PM
#9
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,738
I just noticed that I forgot to include the link. This is the system I use to sandwich a quilt without crawling around on the floor and without a big table. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPaIzuoY6Bg&t=357s
