For my test run, I decided to use a cheater print from Tasha Noel's Country Girls line. I got a 1-1/2-yard cut of that print, then cut off the selvages and edges and finished them with a light running stitch just inside the edge to minimize fraying. For the back, I got a 2-1/4-yard cut of one of my favorites from the new Kona colors added in 2014, Creamsicle. I cut off about 9 2-1/2-inch strips for binding - I realized once I started cutting that I could've gone for just 2 yards, but I've got enough different projects that the extra strips will get used somewhere or another. I kept those selvages on, and sewed the same running stitch down the sides. The batting is Quilter's Dream, Request Loft, 100% cotton, and it is one of the softest things I've ever felt. Seriously, you know that jingle in the commercials for cotton clothes? "The touch, the feel of cotton"? I've never once thought about that when I felt an article of cotton clothing, but I couldn't stop thinking about it feeling this batting.
I thread basted on the tile floor of my laundry room, and it took forever. Seriously, hours upon hours. I'm not sure how I'm going to change tactics for the next time, only that they must change. It might be in investing in some kneepads for volleyball players, because my whole body ached for days afterward. It might be in investing some time in getting trained to rent a longarm at a local fabric shop, because this was only a crib-sized quilt and life is too short for however much time it would take to do a twin- or queen-sized one. We'll see.
Anyway, I used 40-wt Aurifil in color #1135 - I use 50-wt for piecing and 28-wt for quilting, so it seemed reasonable to split the difference for the basting. I used yellow so it would show up, but not be too dominant. I sewed with a basting needle from Roxanne, whose sharps I use for my hand piecing, and used the herringbone stitch that's taught in this tutorial. You can see here how much of the spool I used for basting just this one project. If I keep basting with the 40-wt, I might need to invest in one of those giant cones Aurifil sells.
I will acknowledge that it was better than the one previous time I've tried basting a quilt, in my old apartment, where I 1) accidentally sewed much of the quilt to the carpet and had to use some judicious cutting to separate them without incurring security-deposit-depleting damage and 2) stepped on my pincushion barefoot and had to pull a needle out of my foot.
The quilting practice is going okay so far. I learned the technique using the Craftsy class from Andi Perejda (no ad here, just acknowledgement). The class has recommended designs for learning the method, but I like the straight-line grid that the cheater print provides. I'm using Roxanne size 10 betweens and Aurifil 28-wt in #2021. I'm still getting used to the quilting motion, the way you use a thimble in the stitch, and in wrangling the quilt in the hoop in my lap. I can't quite find the right motion - the stitches are small and look good on the back, but there's more space between them than I'd ideally like on the top. It's like the needle is getting a little lost in the batting on its way back up, and I'm still figuring out how to alter my motion to remedy that (as well as the slight right-to-left you can see in the stitches here on the left side of the red pinwheel.)
When this year started, I had lofty plans about how many tops and quilts I was going to have finished by the time December came around. Setting "Finishing Fall" for myself has helped me get at least partway to that goal. Now I think I've altered it - my new goal is to try to get all the tops I have and will have finished paired with backings and basted, in time to try to take advantage of the chilly weather that invites sitting around with a big pile of fabric and batting in your lap. It can be a slog sometimes, but I'm glad to be getting a better, more realistic sense of what each step requires of me. And I can see that sometime next year, I will have a finished product to share here!
