Do It Now, Or Do It Later

Last year, I held back a couple of quilts so that I could take my time with all the ones I was working on to send out in 2014 for family members.

Right now, many of the ones I held back are at the stage for basting. Thing is, last year, when I set these quilts aside, they weren't just ready to go but needed prep work or completion in some way. I've got two of them ready to baste next week. I turned them over to trim loose threads and press seams flat. It took me a couple of hours to do both quilts.

Cutting off threads meant I could toss them outside for spring birds to help build nests. Some strands were hung over Heavenly Bamboo bushes & some just laid over lower plants. Often what I clip in smaller amounts just goes in my kitchen compost. They are gone and not just blown by winds into the yard. The threads are being repurposed.

The next step was to press the seams flat. Only a few of them folded over like that top one, but pressing before they are basted makes for a smoother quilt. These two quilts go to a couple of Great-Nephews.

I need to start moving the quilts to the next stage for machine quilting and did pull out Sophia's Summer. It is pinned now, and ready to hand stitch the binding on it. I've taken to watching You Tube for movies at night, and did another one set in Naples, Italy ("That Hamilton Woman" with Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier), followed by a James Bond ("Die Another Day") that I had not seen. The only good things in it were Halle Barrie, Judi Dench & a great new hairstyle on Moneypenny. However, the movies made the tedious work of clipping threads and pinning go by quickly.