Cumulative Finish

After trimming the finished quilt to size, it was time for adding on the binding to the piece I've made for the Stretching Art & Tradition exhibit.

And then I decided to go over the couched-on spiral of cotton Baker's Twine as I'd missed too many places. That took a while! But it was worth it, now it won't get caught on anything.

There it is...Cumulative Spiral. One of my first quilt finishes for 2026, hurrah!

A close-up of the binding (I used the same Navy blue as I did for the background of Patchwork Palooza) and the now-secured spiral.  Now it's time to sew on the sleeve and label and send it off to the show organizer tomorrow!


 

Off The Couch(ing)

Well, I lost at "bobbin chicken" and had to stop my couching efforts to wind myself a new one.

It's going pretty well now that I've gotten the hang of it. Very different than free-motion quilting. Also, I'm using a small zig-zag stitch as well.

Getting closer to the top.

And...done! Now to trim to the exact size, 24" w x 36"h and add some binding. 

 

Still Couching.

 

I'm still working on the "Cumulative Spiral" couching effort for my Stretching Art & Tradition quilt. It's fiddly and kind of close-up. I decided not to mark or pin or glue, but I still am working to a sort of plan/design. The thread vs. the baker's twine that I'm using is playing well together visually. But the baker's twine is sometimes getting stuck on the needle, and on the thread above the needle. So that's a little annoying, but I'm sticking with it and trying to go slow enough to notice when there's a problem developing.

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Every now and then I have to stand up and see what it is that I've couched. I'd say "So far, so good", I'm almost up to the top, which means I'm almost done. Noticing how much I truly love stitching on my hand-dyed fabrics, it's somehow still quite a thrill. That means I really do need to keep on dyeing. (note the e in the word)

Black and White Couching Spirals

 

After all that quilting, it was time for some quilt trimming.

I have a design drawn out that needs to be added to this quilt, so I decided to try some couching.

I'm using a black and white  two-ply twisted cotton baker's twine. This first part in the lower right hand corner is the most fiddly part.

I'm using a black and white twisted 2-ply rayon thread (Wonderful D-Twist) to do the couching. Last seen being used last year, on my Stretching Art & Tradition 25 quilt

This is working out pretty well so far. It shows up just enough, like a sketch.