Yesterday I had a marathon sewing day and it all started because I made an appointment to take quilt tops to my friend that does my machine quilting! I thought I should make good use of this appointment and really look around for the tops I want to finish. (I'm also getting ready for my guild's October quilt show.) By the time I stopped searching the pile was six tops high! NOW I had to look for backs! I love to do back art so that meant hunting through my stash for the right fabric combinations. I started sewing at 8AM and didn't finish until about 6PM - straight through no lunch breaks! I had an inspiration on one of my quilts to do some back art that represented things I enjoy but I had no NASCAR fabric so I had to do an emergency fabric run. Luckily my Joann had some Jeff Gordon fabric left - PERFECT - now the back is complete! I am so glad I didn't need to do that with all of the backs - I'd still be sewing.
As I made all of these backs I used one of my newest favorite additions to my sewing room, my Martelli rotary cutter. This is a great ergonomic rotary cutter that I purchased at their vendor booth in Paducah. It handles well, makes sharp turns, stays with you in the curves - like a little rotary race car! (I think we need a NASCAR version!) Really, it is very easy on your shoulder and wrist because you don't need to press so hard on the handle. You do need to get used to holding the handle in a different way but it is a quick learn.
Anyway, I ended the day with a stack of tops that are ready for the quilter. I can't wait to take them in and tell my friend the story behind each quilt!
As a side note - it took me a long time before I could justify taking that first top in for machine quilting. Sooooo many quilters look at MQ as if it isn't really quilting (like you're cheating) but now I look at my stack of quilt tops and think that I'd never get these done in my lifetime if I waited to HQ! I now view MQ as an important component to quiltart! MQ is an art form that completes the quilt in a way I wouldn't be able to do!
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