Martha's Quilt--Second Finish of 1st Quarter 2021

Threads used to quilt the project

My January "one monthly goal" was to ditch quilt this project. I worked on it a little almost every day and by the end of the month I had almost completed the quilting. I decided to add a design to the center and outer edge of the block to stabilize the piecing a bit more and to evenly distribute to the quilting. 

I chose a Wonderfil variegated blue, red, green, purple polyester thread to quilt the designs. I liked how the variegated thread blended with the fabrics. I can see how valuable variegated thread can be! 

Center motif

I used the Westalee Spinning Wheel 36 to create the center design. I added quarter designs to the corners of the blocks. I loved how the design adds texture to the project. At a glance, one might think that this project was quilted on a longarm rather than on a domestic machine. One might also think that an all over pattern was used instead of a couple ruler templates.

I purchased a fabric for the binding. I could have used a plain black binding; but, I thought that a print would be a better companion to the piecing. The bubble print coordinates well with all the fabrics used in this project. 

I did machine stitch the binding. This time, I cut the strips 2 3/8 inches wide. I used the number 34D foot on my Bernina with the edge of the foot lined up with the edge of the fabric. I moved the needle two positions to the right. After I had stitched the binding to the back of the quilt, I carefully pressed the binding away from the quilt. This was a tip that a retreat participant shared last fall. She said that after she pressed the binding, she didn't need to pin it in place.

Auditioning binding options

Using the number 10D foot and moving the needle two positions to the right, I stitched along the edge of the binding. The retreat participant was correct. I pinned the corners; but, nothing else. The binding went on like a dream.

I definitely will use this technique again! For the most part, I found that the stitching line was consistently spaced from the edge. There were a few spots I didn't achieve that; but, it was better than in my previous attempts! I likely took a bit deeper seam allowance in those spots. I can work on improving my technique on the next quilt that I bind!

Next, I added the label. Usually, I stitch the label partially in place when I stitch the binding. This time, I could not decide what I wanted to name the quilt. I also couldn't determine what label I wanted to use!

Detail of the back of the quilt

When I get stuck, I'll often move on to a different project or take a walk. Interestingly to me, while I'm in the zone of that activity, a solution or two pops into my head. As soon as I finished stitching the binding, I thought to myself, well, these little bits of fabric sure look great together. That's when the name hit me. . ."Little Bits!"

Also, I had a label in my stash that had a dog on it. The quilt recipient loves dogs so I used it. Yes, I had to hand sew all four edges; but, that didn't take too much time.

Label

My friend Martha, would be happy that I finished her quilt. She would be elated knowing that I gave it to a high school graduate. She said when she was making the quilt that it was going to be used for the next "graduate." 

The graduate I have in mind, graduated from high school last June. Tomorrow, I plan to mail the quilt to her--she lives in Texas. She and her mama will understand because it took me seven years to finish her first quilt after I received the announcement that she was here! I'm faster this time!

As I've quilted this project, the pattern has grown on me so much that I decided to make a sample block using strings so that I can make a string quilt in the future. 

Back of the quilt

This was goal number one on my first quarter goal list. I almost finished it last month. I'm doing the happy dance! It is my second finish.

This quilt is 56 inches wide by 76 inches long. I used two yards of fabric from my stash. I did buy 5 1/2 yards of fabric buying earlier this week so I'm at a -3.5 yards of stash used. 

I'm linking up to Oh Scrap and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Regarding COVID:

Worldwide: 106M cases; 59M deaths 

United States: 27M cases; 462K deaths 

Oregon: 147K cases; 2,032 deaths

In the UK, one person in 55 has tested positive for the virus. In many other parts of the world, you may be eligible to receive the vaccine; but, you don't have a way to sign up to receive it. In the U.S., the number of positive cases has plateaued. Hospitalizations are still at a high level. 

Front view of finished quilt

In Oregon, prisoners will receive the vaccination next week. Also next week, people age eighty and older are eligible to receive the vaccine. Here is the issue, the 400,000 healthcare workers in phase 1a have not all been vaccinated with the first does yet. The 105,000 teachers in group one of phase 1b that were eligible January 25 to receive the vaccine have not all been vaccinated. Couple those numbers with the 795,000 people age 65 and older who will all be eligible for the vaccine after March 1 and it is obvious there is an issue with logistics! At the rate the vaccinations are distributed, it will be June before this part of the population will be vaccinated. 

In spite of logistics issues, vaccinations are continuing. Slowly people are receiving their second doses. There has been so much written about the COVID symptoms, the COVID variant viruses as well as symptoms of the variant viruses. Even the side effect symptoms of the vaccine has received news time. 

I wish that the media would also report that the virus can mutant only in a host. If we aren't a viable host for the virus because we've had the vaccine, we can slow/stop the spread of the disease. Getting vaccinated is an important step toward becoming a non viable host. If you would have told me a year a go when we were in the two week stay home order that we would still be social distancing, I wouldn't have believed it. Yet, this is exactly where we are.