quilt sandwich

Today I FINALLY got my quilt sandwich laid out. I've had the quilt top finished since before the Baby's birthday, and the quilt back put together shortly thereafter, but it has taken me forever to find the batting I wanted to go in between. I'm kind of picky about quilt batts, as they are basically the 'guts' of the quilt, and when you put this kind of time and effort into the 'skin' of something (aka the top) you want to use really good innards for it. That being said I was looking for 100% cotton. This should not be so hard to find, and I know its the Dream Cotton from Quilter's Dream that I wanted, but it was very hard to find one in stock in KING SIZE in a local shop. Have I mentioned that this is a big friggen' quilt? Or that we're not exactly swimming in quilt shops around here? Anyhow, I finally found on the other day, at a shop close to my sister's house, so when I went to visit her last week, I had a chance to pick it up. And today, during nap time, I actually had time to lay out the sandwich.

For those of you who read my blog, but are not quilters, a 'quilt sandwich' refers to the layering of the three components or strata of a quilt: the back, the batting and the top. These layers have to be lined up, smoothed out carefully so as to prevent bunching and wrinkles when they are quilted, and then basted together so that they don't shift around during the actual quilting.  
I find this part of the process rather arduous, and finicky, and very hard to do by yourself. There is a lot of crouching down and standing up, and then walking from one end to the other, only to realize that the whole thing is slightly crooked, and that you need to start all over again. And of course, the top kind of sticks to the batt, and the batt is kind of stretchy, like pizza dough, so you have to be careful when you smooth it not to stretch it out too much... suffice it to say its kind of a pain in the butt. Especially with a quilt this big. I might have already told you that this is KING SIZED! yup. big. Luckily, my kind Hubs lent me a hand with this which made for improved efficiency and less swearing. And now this step is done. I pin basted the whole thing (though I kind of ran out of pins, so its done a bit sparsely and I'd like to add a few more, but that's another trip to the store) and now all that's left is the quilting. Yeah, just that, the crazy back-breaking labour part. Ha! Don't worry, I'll save a whole other post for complaining about how hard the actual quilting of this monster will be. 

By the way, I do this as a hobby. Because I enjoy it. Just in case you can't tell from my descriptions. Really, its very satisfying. Though its kind of a Calvinist hobby when you think about it. 

And now for something completely different.
How cute are they? My son and my niece, in their proud orange duds. Yes, we did watch 'the game' this weekend, which will surprise those of you who know me well, as I don't have a sports loving bone in my body. However, all my bones are Dutch/Canadian, so I had to tune in, just out of nationalistic pride. Also, my parents don't have their TV set up yet, and my Dad wanted to watch the game. And my sister was in town with two of her kids, and they all have soccer pulsing through their veins, so I became the unsuspecting host of a World Cup Party. Hey, put the words 'host' and 'party' together and I'm in. So even though we lost, it was fun. And win or loose, that Baby looks pretty darn cute in his little jersey. Thanks for sending it Oma!

Comments

[Cynthia]

Congratulations sis! for getting so far on such a huge project! It really is gorgeous and I can't wait to see it complete! and of course you know that one of the many wonderful things about quilt making is that though the time you invest is so significant, the length of time that the quilt will be enjoyed is significantly substantially superbly more than that!!!

[Marcia Van Drunen]

Good luck with the quilt! May the rest be curse-free :)
That was also the ONLY game we watched. And you're right, your son looks great in orange.

[Leni]

Alright, I probably won't sleep well under that quilt knowing it caused you to swear! Having no quilting or sewing experience myself, I was not aware how major an undertaking this would be! But it does look amazing, and I know it will keep me nice and warm on those cold winter nights when the wind is howling around the house. And it will be even cosier knowing you made it (and warmed it with those ?*#*? words.

[finger thumb]

Thanks for your support, all of you. Also, Mom, I love that you fake swore in punctuation marks. Made me laugh out loud!