Should've Gone To Bed: When 20 Minutes of Careless Stitching Yields an Hour and a Half of Ripping

Greetings, Friends!  Today's tale of woe has a happy ending and is chock full of Monday Morning Quarterbacking and useful tips for Future Rebecca.  Let's start with the Happy Ending, shall we?  I finished stitching this row of alternate blocks in my Deco quilt today, so I'm nearly 2/3 finished (with the stitch in the ditch and major digital designs in this 102" x 102" bed quilt that I am custom quilting).  Tomorrow I'll pop off the computer robotics belts from my machine, snap on my ruler base, and work on the stitch in the ditch quilting around the pale purply-pink squares and the green squares in the adjacent blocks.  Doesn't that Teal So Fine thread look pretty against the dark Kona Indigo background fabric?  That is the kind of quilting that says "Notice ME!  And pay no attention to the wobbly imperfections of the stitching in the ditching!"

This Is the Row of Decorative Computerized Quilting I Completed Today

Here's what I was looking at late last Thursday afternoon, when I was tired and wanted to stop quilting for the day but pushed myself to finish out the row:

I Quilted the Wrong Design!  😱

September Goals: Stonefields, FrankenWhiggish, Inherited UFO + BIG News for Rebecca

Happy Labor Day in the United States and Happy September, everyone!  I have a lot going on right now and my Big News (which I shall reveal towards the END of today's post) is going to dictate which projects and tasks take priority this month.

Stonefields Quilt

First, let's talk about my Stonefields quilt, because I am delighted with this project so far.  These blocks have been such a treat to work on!  All 13 of the blocks from Month One are now completed and on the design wall.  All blocks will finish at 6", but the applique backgrounds were cut oversized and will need to be trimmed down.  Because I use starch and glue in my applique preparation methods, I am thinking I might wash my applique blocks before trimming them down to size.  The serged edges will prevent them from fraying whether I hand wash them in a little dish pan or -- gasp! -- put them in a lingerie bag and run them through the washing machine on the Hand Wash Delicates cycle.  Honestly, that is probably exactly what I will do, because I know the washing machine will get all the glue and starch out very efficiently and I am more curious about what will happen in the washing machine than I am worried about what will happen in the washing machine.  

Stonefields Blocks 1-13 Completed, Appliqué Blocks Need Trimming to Size

My Sawtooth Star blocks were foundation paper pieced on the sewing machine, most of my applique blocks were stitched by hand, but the final Posy Pot block is a mixture of some shapes stitched by hand and other shapes stitched with my Bernina B990 sewing machine:

Stonefields Block 13 "Posy Pot"

I am absolutely delighted with my customized invisible machine appliqué stitch and how closely I got it to resemble the look of my own personal hand stitching.