Project Improv - Project Two Nearly Complete

Look what I brought home yesterday. My modern square quilt all long-armed up! I made this quilt top about three years ago when asked to donate a quilt for a charity auction. I made this one first in a Denyse Schmidt sort of style, including the backing, but it was just way too big to quilt and give away.



Thus, I made another very similar one for the auction but on a smaller scale and then stitched in the ditch. As soon as I did that, I was sorry. Stitching in the ditch didn't do a thing for the quilt, as far as I was concerned as a sewist. Of course, though, all the folks who saw the auction quilt thought it was great.



Anyway, back to THIS quilt. All these years, I've just had it folded up hanging on a rack in my sewing room thinking that I needed to save enough money to get it quilted on the long-arm machine. I thought it would be $100.00 or more. Due to Jacquie's Project Improv encouragement, I just brought the quilt into the quilt shop one afternoon and was going to bite the bullet. To my surprise, the estimated cost was $55.00, including batting. I understand from a few of my quilting blog friends that this is a great price. My quilt measurements are around 58 x 60 inches.

Here is the back. I love it!



The binding will be done in black. That way the color should just blend in with outside rows that are the dotted black material. This quilt will be given to my daughter, Camille. She loves it, too!

If you think my quilt shop has great prices for long-arm work, Audrey of Pieces and Patches here in Lexington, SC, said you could contact her -- e-mail at the link above -- and discuss sending in your quilt and what type of stitching you would like. She contracts with Linda, the owner of the long-arm machine, who is originally from Wales, I think, and graduated from an English embroidery school. Her embroidery handwork and hand quilting are beautiful, and she's got skill with the long-arm. All this to say that if prices are high in your area, you might check prices with Audrey and consider that sending your quilt by priority mail back and forth to South Carolina will probably cost less time and money than driving somewhere, grabbing lunch, getting a cold Diet Coke, buying more fabric while you're out...... Well, that's what usually happens when I run out to the shops.