Stonefields Blocks 16 + 17 "Square Peg In a Round Hole," With an Oopsie!

There are two new Stonefields blocks on my design wall, and one of them even looks like it's supposed to!  Behold, Blocks 16 & 17, "Square Peg In a Round Hole," one of which has the square peg on point the way it belongs, and the other of which does not:

17 Stonefields Blocks + 21 Hexie Rosettes for Border

Aaaargh!!!  I only accept partial responsibility for this error.  The appliqué patterns for the Stonefields quilt are printed RIDICULOUSLY faintly, nearly impossible to see through the background fabric with even the brightest LED light box.  I did not realize that my background fabric was oriented incorrectly until after I'd glue basted the delicate purple square with the circle cutout onto my block, and I used a bit more glue than normal because of how skinny those bits are on the side.  I wanted to secure that shape to my background fabric while it was flat on my work surface to preclude any stretching or distortion that might occur.  In hindsight, I would have been better off skipping the darned light box altogether and just positioning the shapes on this blocks using the horizontal, vertical and diagonal fold lines.  Shoulda, woulda, coulda.  I noticed the mistake as soon as I finished glue basting the purple block and heat setting the glue with the iron.

Edges Turned Smoothly, Glue Basted to the Background, Not Yet Stitched

I considered peeling the shapes off to reposition them correctly before stitching, but when I tried to lift one purple corner I realized how securely it was glued down and didn't want to risk damaging the applique.  The prep work on these blocks took a LONG time and I didn't want to have any unnecessary do-overs!

Deco Bed Quilt Going Back in Time Out Following Hand Quilting Experiments

Alright, I think I'm done with the hand quilting experiments on my Deco Bed Quilt and it's time for this project to get shoved back into a closet again -- after a quick recap for the benefit of Future Rebecca.

Hand Quilting in my Grace Square Lap Hoop

After trying both ways, hand quilting with and without a hoop, I definitely prefer the hoop.  It makes it so much easier to maintain consistent tension when you pull the thread through the fabric and it definitely makes it easier to mark quilting lines, if you feel like marking them.  I have had this Grace Square Lap Hoop for over twenty years, since I used it to hand quilt a much smaller throw size quilt for my husband.  My hoop is similar to this current Grace Hoop 2 from the Grace company, except that mine doesn't have that opening in the bottom that would let you attach it to a stand.  Here's the problem: my Deco quilt is a whopping 102" x 102", the quilt top fabrics are all those beefy Kona Solid fabrics, and I used a midweight Hobbs 80/20 black batting rather than one of the lower loft battings that are tailored for hand quilters.  These factors combined to create a tremendous weight and drag that felt cumbersome to me as I was conducting my hand quilting experiments on the sofa, and I was not keen on committing to spending a hundred or more hours wrestling with this giant quilt in my lap when I could be hand stitching appliqué or English paper piecing instead.  Enormous quilts like this one are why hand quilting FRAMES are a thing!  Now, I can see how the newer version of my hoop along with the optional stand would help manage the weight of a big quilt for hand quilting, but I'm not about to invest in a whole new hoop and stand setup for hand quilting at this time.  I would not be able to recline if my hoop was attached to a floor stand, the stand would be one more thing to store or to trip over next to the sofa, and I definitely wouldn't be lugging it around as a portable project.

Here's what the hand quilting was looking like so far:

Hand Quilting in Wonderfil 12 wt Fruitti Variegated Green Thread

I'm not giving up on the idea of ever hand quilting again, just not going to slog through trying to do it on such a big quilt.  So what you see pictured above in the green areas is 12 weight, 3-ply Wonderfil variegated cotton Fruitti in a variegated green color (this post contains affiliate links).  After trying different types and sizes of hand needles, I settled on a Bohin Size 7 Embroidery needle and I used the "stab stitching" method of using my non-dominant left hand on top of the quilt to push the needle down through the quilt, then my dominant right hand beneath the quilt grabbed the needle, turned it around and guided it (blind) back up through the quilt for my left hand to grab the needle.  This was initially awkward and clumsy, but it's amazing how quickly your fingers can learn what you want them to do with repetition.  After 30 minutes or so, the motions were becoming more automatic and I was getting a lot better at poking the needle up in the right spot on the first try.