Big Time 'Wrassling' with the Love Quilt

From back left: Scott, Keith, David   Front row: Davie, me, unknown, and Peggy

"We were just 'wrassling' in the bedroom, and I don't know how insert sibling's name here got hurt! Honest!"

I grew up with 2 older brothers, David and Scott, and on occasion things got so ouchy at home that my mom would roll back the furniture, and let them have a go at each other. Even as the only girl, I thought it exhilarating to spar against my brothers. It was never dangerous stuff, just fun until you'd exhausted the tension. I recall my brother, David, years later coming home fresh out of Marine Corp.boot camp, showing me how to flip someone over your shoulder if they attacked you from behind. I must have been in Junior High School then, and all 6'4" of him got laid out on the grass in our front yard in one swift move. It was like felling a tree, and no one was more shocked than he was! 

Dave passed away a few years ago, but I can imagine him standing next to my sewing machine asking me if I"m "wrasslin'" that quilt. Yup, I sure am.
This fulfills my expectation that it was going to be a lot to move around, but it's happening. I'm trying to figure out ways to make it easier, and I think I have a few tricks up my sleeve. More about that tomorrow.

I laid the Love quilt out on my kitchen table, and marked it freehand with a waxey-chalk pencil. I started quilting on the machine, and hadn't quite finished the heart. All was well and good until I started wadding it up under the machine, and the markings all came off! I only had a vague idea what I was doing until I came back upstairs and re-marked it. This time I used a blue, water soluble marker. The main icons were there, and the filler I would make up as I went along. So, back down to quilting.

I know it goes against general advice, but I decided I should start by quilting all the larger icons first. Sometimes I moved from one to another by connecting with filler, but I didn't take the time to do the traditional "start in the center and work outward" thing. So far, so good. No bunching.

I've never used a variegated thread where one color matched the fabric so well. In this quilt, it literally fades to nothing where the thread is grey. A slightly brighter thread might have been a better choice. Hindsight is 20/20.

I won't critique it to you because you'll never notice the same things I do, right? You're my 'Man On the Galloping Horse'.

 Have fun with whatever you're doing this weekend.

Hey, Doxie girls, wake up.

We need to go sew.