People often ask at quilt shows how long it has taken to complete the quilting so I have been keeping tabs on the Russian DWR, averaging 7 hours per day. Let’s just say that progress is slow - even the chalk marking takes forever. I would like to think that I am getting quicker now that I know what I am doing.
To my horror, I discovered that the underneath tension was not brilliant on the tiny ruler work and I will have to come up with a cunning plan to disguise it. Lowering the bobbin tension, increasing the top tension, checking carefully for microscopic fluff and changing to a gold needle designed for stitching through sticky stuff improved matters.
It was nerve-wracking and exciting to finally get to do some free motion stitching on manual in the amber sections. Each large pinched square takes 35 minutes, which is considerably faster than the equivalent area of ruler work. I am not quite on target for reaching halfway by mid May and I have not taken into account the chalk removal, blocking, binding and addition of amber chips and any other extras that spring to mind. Facebook sent me reminders that I have previously panicked over Tartan Tattoo and BzB in previous Mays. At least the longer daylight hours make the days seem longer.
I reached the point where I had spent so long in the workshop that I was hitting repeats of radio programmes so I found a good audio book to keep me going. My deadline is preventing me from getting bored but it is a bit daunting every day working on the same quilt and not rolling it on very often!
I finally got my Landy back after 3 weeks at the garage. It needed a new cross member, exhaust, prop shaft bearing and floor. It was VERY expensive. I was devastated to find steam coming out of the radiator, with water and anti-freeze pouring out of a hose the very next day. Luckily, a new jubilee clip, costing £1.67 fixed that. I will have to get a lot of customer quilts done after the DWR to fill up my piggy bank.
Hopefully by this time next week the bottom end of the Russian DWR quilt will be in sight…
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