Scrappy Celebrations is Quilted, Awaiting Binding

Well, whadda-ya-know -- Quilting a mediocre quilt top DOES make it better!  I finally managed to get my Scrappy Celebrations project quilted and I like it a lot better now.  I quilted it with Curly Feathers E2E, a nondirectional allover feather design that seemed a good fit for the soft colors and florals of the primarily Tilda fabric prints.  Even those blocks with the solid raspberry and aqua fabrics that felt out of place to me before seem to "belong" better now that they are quilted over with feathers.  Glad to have moved this stalled project from collection of unloved blocks to quilt top, and from quilt top to not-so-bad quilt.  I trimmed it after taking these photos, and I won't be labeling it since I'm planning to donate it, so just the binding remains.

53 1/2 x 62 Scrappy Celebrations with Curly Feathers E2E Quilting

One of the reasons it took me so long to quilt this is that I was determined to use up some of my many, MANY batting scraps rather than going the easy route and cutting new batting off the bolt.  I was determined to use up batting scraps, but not very motivated or excited to actually piece those scraps together...  I eventually dug out three long, skinny strips of what all seemed to be Quilters Dream Cotton Deluxe Loft batting, cut straight edges on them with my rotary cutter, and pieced them together with a 9 mm wide 3-step zigzag stitch and 50/2 cotton Aurifil thread.  So there are two batting seams running vertically through this quilt, and you cannot see or feel them at all now that it's quilted.  Waste not, want not, right?

Batting Joined with 9 mm 3-Step Zigzag Stitch

I chose the Curly Feathers quilting design because it's one of my few feather designs that is nondirectional, and I wanted to load this quilt sideways to speed up the quilting and to keep those batting seams parallel to the frame rollers so I could keep an eye on them as I was working my way through the quilting.  

It's always so magical to see the transformation from flat quilt blocks to dimensional quilted texture as the first row stitches out.  Quilting just always makes the quilt look better, don't you think?

First Row of Quilting

I used Superior's Masterpiece 50 wt 3-ply cotton in color Blanc.  I could have used a less expensive poly thread but I have SO much scrumptious thread in my stash that I decided I ought to just use the good stuff!  It's like using the good china.  It kicks up a ton of lint but that's why the Lord has given us tiny lint brushes for cleaning out the hook races of our sewing machines.  

Thicker Deluxe Loft Cotton Batting Creates Wonderful Dimension

I also sewed up another EPP hexagon rosette last night for my Stonefields quilt border but didn't bother taking a picture of it.  

In the coming week, I hope to get binding on both Scrappy Celebrations as well as the other, smaller donation quilt that has been waiting for binding since before my last move.  Binding these two will be my To Do for Tuesday goal.  Then, although I've missed the deadline for linking up with One Monthly Goal for September, my goal for the month will be THROW PILLOWS!  I returned the ones that I bought from the store because I couldn't stomach the disconnect between how much I spent on them and how cheap the fabric quality was.  I've bought new pillow fabrics and trims and am just waiting on my #4/5 invisible zippers to come from The Zipper Lady so I can get started (no affiliate link, just a happy customer for years).  We gonna have some Pillow-Palooza going on in my sewing room, just as soon as these stinking quilts get bound and out of my way!

I hope you're enjoying sewing time and milder weather wherever you are.  Thanks for stopping in.

I'm linking up today's post with some of my favorite linky parties:

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs  

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt  

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

FRIDAY

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre

Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty

SATURDAY

Scrap Happy Saturday at So Scrappy

SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework