Day #3 of UFO Week

     It is Day #3 and I'm feeling pretty confident about my machine quilting skills now that I have completed the sacrificial table runner from Day 2.  Some might say overconfident, but what have I got to lose?  I have plenty of UFOs to practice on!  I went searching for a larger project.

    This quilt top has these great diamond shapes that are begging for custom quilting.  The top is in the ballpark of a twin size quilt, without borders.  The lack of borers is the problem with this quilt.  This top was made many years ago, and now the navy batik fabric is impossible to match.  Dye lots change.  Batiks are hand dyed so even bolts from the same manufacturer can vary in shade from shipment to shipment.   Normally I would have set aside fabric for the borders from the same bolt of fabric.  Maybe I did?  If I did, it was in the ballpark of 8 - 10 years ago.  All I know is that I don't have that shade of navy in my sewing room now.  If you look closely, you can see the threads where I ripped a border length off that I thought would be a "good enough" match.  It wasn't good enough.  This quilt deserves better.  I pulled this top from that pile of tops that "need something".  It is going right back in that pile, because it still needs something - a border! 

    Meanwhile, in my search for the elusive border batik, I came across a good size piece of navy print batik backing fabric.  It is a fun print, but definitely not right for the striped quilt above.  The navy is a good shade, but the print is directional.  There are birds that all face the same way so in my mind it has a definite top and bottom.  

    I tossed the backing fabric to the side and it landed next to this navy and orange quilt.  I didn't like that backing for the multi color batik quilt, but it looked pretty cool with this navy and orange sample of the Perfect Tilt.  If I were shopping for backing for this project, I may not have selected this one, but the more I look at it, the more I like it!  I love a quilt with an interesting backing fabric.  Off to the quilting machine!

      One thing I have learned is that I think longarm machine quilting looks best when the areas are outlined and/or stitched in the ditch.  In the Nine Patch a Day Group on Facebook, we have discussed that pressing your seams open (and leaving them pressed open) can be an issue if you plan to stitch in the ditch.  The quilting machine can pop those stitches and create problems in your patchwork.  YOU may not plan to stitch in the ditch, but believe me, your professional quilter probably does.  That is the way they travel from place to place without having a zillion ends to tie off.  Luckily, I had followed my own advice and pressed these seams properly.

    Step one after loading the quilt and making sure it is perfectly square is to stitch in the ditch or 1/4" in around all of those orange print sashing areas.  I chose an orange top thread to blend in.  Orange and blue are complimentary colors.  That means that orange thread will REALLY stand out on blue fabric and the reverse.  With a navy and white backing, I chose white bobbin thread to help hide my not so perfect quilting skills.  I could have chosen navy, but I had 2 white bobbins wound and ready to go.  Decision made. 

    The next step was to stitch in the ditch around all of those large orange squares and just outside those navy tilted squares.  

    All of that stitching - very little of it actually shows - took FOREVER.  Slow and steady wins the race in this case.  This UFO is going to be a multi-day project.  I simply don't have the energy or brain power to choose designs, position and crop them to fit into the background areas of the blocks.  Whew, that took far longer than I expected.  Tomorrow is another day. 

    This orange and blue quilt is also a relatively new UFO.  It is only about 2 years old.  I don't want to give you the impression that ALL of my UFO's are recent, so I will take a deeper dive to the bottom of the pile for the next one!