Cycles 2 - in progress

Friday night and yesterday my cold/flu was back in some force so I stayed home from Sew Day with the EMQG. But in between naps and tea, I started cutting and making more circles. By last night, I was well along the way in my second planned selfish sewing project, a variation on my Cycles quilt. There it is during basting, just before I added the pins.



I think the picture above is actually how it would hang on a wall, if you were hanging it. It is about 39" x 43", I did not want a square and I might trim the background once it is quilted. Oh and the pictures were after dark so the colours are close but not quite right. The fabrics are Kona solids and Essex linen, with the background being linen too.



I decided on more matchstick quilting, I love the effect. This is where I stopped last night, about 4" are quilted and I counted 40 lines done - and two bobbins worth of this 40 wt. Sulky variegated thread. The lines are purposely not even and a little wobbly, and I have to say it would be much easier to aim to get them even. However, I favour the modern industrial style of this.



I put a piece of Kona white on the back, it was handy. I debated a print but thought the better of it, I expect that this is a wall piece and no need to give up over a yard of anything pretty. I am pretty sure that I will have many moments of regret at this dense quilting but I expect that the ultimate effect will be striking. Oh and I set my stitch length to 4.



Here is a photo from this morning, the colours are better but it is gray and raining here so the light inside is still not great. I pinned this more than I often pin and you can see how the dense quilting draws in the fabric and makes the wrinkles in the unquilted part. As I move the quilt in the machine, I use my hands to pull the upcoming part - top, batting and back - tight and wrinkle free, thus avoiding puckers and such in the quilted part. I can get a nice rhythm but it is not sewing at breakneck speed. I expect several more hours of this, I might have to find an audio book to listen to.



Here are some of the circles, actually some of the better ones I now see.  They are not perfectly joined, I focused on having the centre seam as perfect as I could because that is where I think your eye is actually drawn. The imperfections will disappear in the quilting. The other thing I did was made the "L" shape background piece wider on both sides and then after making the DP (quarter circle) unit I trimmed them down. The quarter circles are 4" unfinished and so the circles finish with about a 6.75" diameter.

Tomorrow the link to link up your Q3 Finish - A - Long finishes opens, and you will have a week to get them up. And you can start thinking of your Q4 list, the things you hope to finish before years end. The link for the Q4 lists will open on October 8.

Enjoy your Sunday, I am going to be stitching lines I think.

Best,

Leanne