It’s six weeks since I last shared my progress with the Seaside Quilt, a design from the book of the same name by Kathryn Whittingham of Patchwork Katy. I completely forgot to do a post on Boxing Day! Last time I was skipping round having just finished the quilt top…

I love the top, it’s such a happy quilt, it was a delight to stitch.

My next task was to sandwich it ready for quilting, I didn’t have a big enough piece to just back it in one piece and I am trying to reduce my stash a bit so I looked at the decent sized leftovers from the quilt. I realised I could piece the remnants together in a sort of sea scape design with the sandy colours beneath the blue sea fabrics. Time will tell how straight I managed to get the horizon once it’s quilted, I did try! The dark blue is quite faded in places, it’s odd really as it’s right across the fabric, not just in the areas exposed when folded, I bought it out of the back of a car very cheaply (literally! someone was selling a stash at the stitching weekend I went on last year) Hopefully once it has quilting lines on it it won’t be quite so obvious.

I have just started the hand quilting. I’ve had a general idea in my head for a while, but I think I’ve finalised it now. The large embroidered blocks are just having simple straight lines round the borders, I will see whether I also need on just inside the embroidered blocks too, I’m using a variegated dark blue sulky thread for the blue border and a creamy one for the sandy border. So far I’ve just started stitching round the lighthouse block in the centre of the quilt…

OK so I’ve not done much actual quilting but I’ve started and I have a plan. I still need to regain my rhythm with hand quilting so I can relax into it.

I found with the Cottage Garden quilt that I found it much easier with designs I could quilt in one direction, in other words, not trying to stitch towards me or constantly turning the quilt. I stitched a corner to corner quarter circle arc which could make petals or leaves, but importantly could be stitched right to left. I decided to use the same basic pattern but just stitch rows so it looked like the sea waves, sort of a scalloped line

I then had the dilemma of which looked most like waves, all the points up in line or staggered! Helen didn’t help when she looked at the options as she said it would look more like a wave with what I would call a scroll design, which missed the desire for all the quilting to be stitched in one direction! I then realised that with the points staggered it was basically a clam shell pattern…which is equally apt on a seaside quilt! So that is what I’m planning for the rest of the quilt, I have another reel of sulky thread in mid blues and greens. I’ll probably still do a square round the little embroidered blocks and I’ll have to do something different with the star blocks in the corners as they are a different size.

Hopefully next time I’ll have a bit more to show you, now I have my quilting chair set up on the landing with all my threads, thimbles and needles to hand.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, and Daisy

I’ll also be linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.