Painless Quilting

(Image credit: "Happy Winter Solstice" by sbpoet is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.)

Good morning, my friends, and Happy Winter Solstice! The days are going to get brighter and longer from here. How is everyone doing on this first day of winter? I am feeling mighty fine after finishing the quilting on Calendula Patterdrip's Cottage yesterday. And I'm happy to say I had no wrist pain whatsoever for the duration of this quilting project. It seems I've found the solution to that aggravation.

Obviously, I owe any of yesterday's success to my hard-working cats. Smitty kept an eye on the field. He was on red alert for any invading forces. With him as my lookout, I could quilt without fear. 

Starting on the left side, I started on the center seam between two pieced blocks. Doing it that way, I could complete two blocks at a time without needing to cut thread.

And then, I just kept going...

Moving to the right...

Two blocks at a time.

Until I came to this spot, where there were a couple of pieced blocks within the embroidered area.

Back at the quilt's edge, I had three blocks left, starting with this rail fence.

And finishing up at the right edge. 

And can I get a Hallelujah!!! I started this quilt on November 16, 2020, and so it's been a long time in the making. I laid it on the floor downstairs for its picture.

Here's a peek at the back.

Sadie gave it a thorough snuggleability test.

When you have a quilt like this, inhabited by witches, spiders, ghosts, and bats, a cat can't be too careful. Black cats are especially well-suited for detecting scary stuff.

She tested it for snuggleability on both the back and the front.

And then she stood guard while I squared it up.

And there we go. It's ready for binding.

The binding strips were already cut.

I finished my sewing day by sewing the strips together and pressing them...ready for being sewn to the quilt today. Before the day is out, I'm hoping to have a good start on the hand-sewing. 

That's probably how I'll spend my day today. I have several things on the agenda. I'm trying out a new recipe for Slow Cooker Coq au Vin. That will need to get started fairly early. Also, I want to bake some more biscotti. We really loved the cranberry and orange biscotti I baked a few weeks ago. With my Christmas baking free-for-all coming to a close, we wanted to enjoy it one more time. 

There's one housekeeping chore on the agenda, and if I'm feeling really energetic, I might get back to the Bowflex machine. I was giving it a rest while I was quilting, not wanting to make my elbow hurt again. Since I was able to quilt without any problems, I'm thinking that leaves only the Bowflex as the culprit where my elbow pain is concerned. I can choose a different exercise, or else back-off on the resistance. As with so many things, it will be an experiment to find the right combination.

Hosting Christmas dinner has my mind busy, and I woke up way too early this morning with my brain ready to start the day, even if my body still needed more sleep. That will probably mean a good long nap this afternoon. By then, most everything I want to accomplish will be done.  We've finished any outings we'll need to make before Christmas, and so I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet of home, even if there is still much to do to be ready for our holiday dinner. The panic at the grocery store was palpable yesterday, and so I'm glad to be staying home until after the madness decreases next week.