House Blocks at the Longarmer--post 3

 

Stitching around the appliqué with
monofilament thread

Goal number one on my November list was to press the backing and top of the house quilt so I could get it to the longarmer. I took the pre-washed wide back to an in person sew day. Pressing a wide back isn't my idea of a fun time. Being able to do it amidst laughter and conversation made the task so much better!

Later, as I was pressing the top, I realized that on three of the raw appliqué blocks, the edges were only pressed in place. Some of the fusible was lifting so I needed to stitch down each of the pieces. My original plan was that when I quilted the piece, I would stitch down the appliqués in the process. I totally forgot about that plan now that I'm sending the piece to a longarmer! I used monofilament thread in the needle and a cotton thread in the bobbin. With my free motion foot, I stitched around the block parts.

The back and top ready for the longarmer

Next, I realized that two of the blocks had hard embellishments. . .button door knobs! I removed those. I will add them back after the project is quilted. I had a quilting pattern in mind, but, I didn't see anything close to it in the panto list. I selected a few options and encouraged the longarmer to choose one that would work. I also thought that a medium gray or dark grey thread, of the options available, would blend the best; but, again, I asked the longarmer to make that decision. 

It's been a long time since I worked on this quilt. It took some digging to locate the previous post which were in September of 2023. It is no wonder that I had forgotten about the buttons and the appliqués!