Another Wednesday Basting

Each Wednesday, I take a quilt into my clubhouse down the street to baste, which means the quilt goes to the next level of being done. A WIP is just that; a work in progress. It has to go through so many stages, just like we do with our lives.

I've heard that comment a lot, and it means that we try to be better with who we are, and see ourselves with gentle eyes. The main thing is to keep working, not give up, and especially to keep evolving.

The first few years of quilting produced small pieces that demonstrated my struggles. Then I moved onto it all as a beginner. Every time I went to a quilt show or sat with other quilters, I could see how much there was to learn if I was ever to get skilled in this art.

Here is a closeup of Baylee's GARDEN PATHS. The lavender doesn't photograph true to color with my camera in closeups, but it is stunning. I decided to hand quilt hearts on each of the blocks. I tested a couple of fabric pens with disappearing ink. One had to be washed out and bled, so it was not going to work for this. The other one is supposed to stay on for 48 hours but is gone with minutes!  I drew on the 4 hearts and quilted with the speed of lightening. Well. The thread is just dark enough to show when you are close, and blends enough so that it isn't the focus of this stunning pattern and materials.

It can take two hearts at a time for the actual speed of Bellezza. I got nine hearts completely done last night and will make a better plan for the future nights of work. Colors show up better when I step back with my camera. 

I am very proud of this piece and how it is evolving.

Most quilts go out of here done on the machine and work more as utility quilts meant to be washed and worn, loved to shreds. I've learned to start in the middle with the quilting whether by hand or machine because if a change is needed for whatever reason, it won't compromise the work.

I think that is true with my own life. I need to start anything and everything at my core and work out. If spirit is at my core like the center of a quilt, then the layers going out are mental (how I think), emotional (how I feel), and then physical (what I do).