The backing fabric arrived last week.
And I pieced the back with just a little bit of the greens from the front.
It took my husband and both kids to hold it up for a quick pic. We probably could have done it without Henry, but he didn’t want to be left out. Who can argue with that? I had planned to use more of the green prints, not just the solids, in the back, but I only had tiny scraps of some of them left. And I quite of like the strong graphic impact of these bands of solid greens.
You’d think with a 3 day weekend, I would have gotten more done. But Saturday was cleaning day, and Sunday was for Trader Joes, and Monday we wasted over an hour in the waiting room of Henry’s doctor, who was over an hour late for our scheduled appointment, with no apology. Ugh.
I did still manage to baste the quilt…
Which meant moving all the furniture in my living room. I’m feeling like a moron, because this was my best basting job ever. The back is sooooo smooth. Like buttah. Because I finally realized, thanks to Sunday Morning Quilts, that I needed to be using way more tape when I stretched my backing out on the floor, and place the tape way closer together. Duh. So obvious, but not to me!
So, now, it’s basted. (And, bonus, I finished streaming season 1 of Sons of Anarchy to boot..)
But now what?
How would YOU quilt this? Especially if you were me, and you do not have FMQ skillz? We’re talking walking foot straight line action over here. Â Not to mention, wrestling a 60×72 quilt through my Viking… I’m setting the bar low, but I would appreciate any and all ideas. I had been thinking of a crosshatch patter in the greens, and either echo quilting the skull to make it stand out, or a smaller, tighter crosshatch in the skull. I picked up green thread and white thread over the weekend, as well as black for the back.
Linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced, and looking forward to seeing what you’ve all been up to.
Diary of a Madfabriholic 
um. that back?! insanely cool. i might have steal that!
steal away! -Sam
On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 8:23 AM, Diary of a Madfabriholic wrote:
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It’s looking great! I only recently started laying out quilts on the floor to baste them… I usually use a table when I can. In terms of the quilting, how about straight line on the diagonal, stopping when you reach the white of the skull? Maybe even in one direction if you do the lines of quilting close enough together?
That sounds like an interesting plan! Do you baste larger quilts on a table as well? I saw a how-to on youtube but haven’t tried it myself yet… -Sam
On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 10:03 AM, Diary of a Madfabriholic wrote:
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Yay, you make progress with it! Nice to see! 🙂
Thank you! I’d love to finish it up in the next week… -Sam
On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 3:26 PM, Diary of a Madfabriholic wrote:
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I do FMQing for others… just sayin’. It looks great and whatever you decided to do will me great!
I really wish I could afford to send quilts out to be quilted- I have in the past, but the last few years have changed my financial realities 😦 I am working on a queen sized project for my own bed, and i think I will splurge on that one… if I ever finish it.
-Sam
On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 5:03 PM, Diary of a Madfabriholic wrote:
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I understand, I am looking forward to seeing the finished quilt. I am just getting started quilting for others so if you hear of anyone looking for some quilting to be done, keep me in mind. Do you belong to the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild?
I don’t belong- I’ve wanted to but found I have never been able to make the meetings. It’s a long drive and my weekends get so sucked up with kid stuff- baseball games, theater classes, playdates, etc… I always seem to have an excuse 😦
-Sam
On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 7:22 AM, Diary of a Madfabriholic wrote:
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That backing fabric is perfection. I like how you pieced it with the greens. So fun!
Thanks! I’m really happy with it- now to handle quilting it! -Sam
On Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 9:19 AM, Diary of a Madfabriholic wrote:
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Maybe just radiate some straight lines out from the skull towards the edges like a sunburst? I do a lot of meandering FMQ…that way I can just say any boo-boos are part of my design. LOL!
Ooh, I quite like the radiating idea… if I can pull it off! Thanks for coming by! -Samantha