"Affairs of the Heart"- Basting the layers (Quilt top, Batting and Backing) .

I decided to use Matilda's Own machine washable wool batting, the colour is charcoal/black. This charcoal/black wool batting proved very hard to obtain in Western Australia, (I had to source it from Victoria Textiles in Victoria) this is one of many reasons for the delay in completing this step.

I am hoping, by using this darker batting instead of the white or natural batting I usually use, Bearding will not occur. In case you’re not sure what Bearding is: Bearding is when the little tufts of batting fibres come through the quilt top, if this happens no matter how many times you wash or brush it, the batting fibres will not go away. It's a common problem you get when you use dark fabrics with a lighter coloured batting, it would be heartbreaking for this to happen after all the work that has gone into this quilt so far.

As you can see I am getting my sandwich layers (Quilt top, Batting and Backing) together, there is a lot of fussing and prep going on here before I am ready to hand baste the three layers together with thread.

Another reason for the delay with this quilt is, I have no idea how I am going to FMQ the background area, what filler pattern I want to use or how am I going to keep the FMQ stitching in the background areas from competing with the applique and embroidery blocks. "I want the quilt to be the first thing you see, then a split second later, the quilting." I know I need to balance the density of the quilting and keep the quilting filler design consistent throughout the quilt so the quilting doesn't overwhelm the quilt top!

I am hoping inspiration will strike me soon! In the meantime I'll be doodling filler designs out on paper, to helped my brain remember the basic shapes and get the sequence and scale figured out before I stitch them onto a practice sampler square. I think half of the battle in machine quilting is knowing what to do when you get close to the edge or trapped in a corner. I had better get back to hand basting the quilt top, batting and backing together.


Until next time
Happy Quilting
Anne