Basting Spree

I've been busy all over the house doing quilty things. I finished another wedding quilt top this, so three of the five wedding quilts I am late on are now quilt tops, and as of yesterday, those are all also basted ready for quilting! 

This is my stack of basted quilts hanging out behind my longarm for right now. I've got company coming tonight and they are staying a week, so not much quilty time in the next week, but I do hope to get the top quilt done while they are here because it's a small one for their dog! If you count them, you'll notice there are actually five quilts in the basted stack. I had pins leftover after basting the three wedding quilts, so I basted the quilt top that DH's grandmother started, and I finished. We don't have a quilt made by her, so we'll be keeping that quilt. 

I have a whole new basting setup. I have basted on the kitchen table for years, but DH wants to get a smaller oval table for our dining area, and that's not the best option for basting. I decided to buy two 30" by 8ft folding tables, which if I move the living room furniture I can set up in the living room side by side. Here's how that worked out.

I found it so much easier to baste the big quilts when I don't have to move them around as much! I've never wanted to try basting on the floor, that sounds like a nightmare to me. I make so many quilts over 100" square that the board method never really appealed to me either. Moving around ten foot boards doesn't seem easy to me. These 8' tables fold in half and have carrying handles, so they really aren't so hard to move. 

I tend to baste several quilts at a time, which is why I have so many basting pins. The five quilts I currently have basted will take a while to quilt, so I've already taken the tables down until next time. 

My next basting spree I hope to have all the other wedding quilts ready to baste, including the one for the recent engagement. I had a plan for their wedding quilt, but after talking to them decided it wasn't to their taste. I ordered fabric for their quilt today, and I hope to make it as leaders/enders while working on the other quilts I need to make. They only wanted a couch quilt, so I'm going twin sized on that. The wedding quilts I just basted are two kings and a twin. The next batch will be one king, one full, one twin.

The above quilt is for DS the Elder. His second anniversary is next week, so this quilt is REALLY late. The quilt is 108" square. The pattern is Faceted Jewels. I made a few changes to the pattern to get it to be the size I wanted, but I had so much fun making this quilt, I could see making another one. 

My other must do quilts right now are one for the grandkids, one full, two twin, and one baby quilt! The full quilt I need I chose a UFO for, and it's partially assembled now. One twin I need to cut, the other twin will be a string quilt so it's low stress and little cutting. The baby quilt I'm waiting on gender and color choices. I'm am so excited my baby is going to be a father! 

I have a lot going on, but I finally feel like I have a handle on it. I'm even getting things done in between the lines.

I finished this quilt top this week. I'm not adding borders, it's 48" x 72" now. These HST's were cutoffs from a bunch of flying geese units that are making two other quilts which also ready for assembly. My plan is to donate all three pink quilts, but we'll see. I often end up giving them away before they get donated. 

This is my current leader/ender project. I'm making a twin sized quilt that will have four of these columns. The blue HST's were cutoffs from another quilt. I have a blue Weed Whacker quilt in blocks, but not assembled, and these HST's were cutoffs from that quilt. I plan on putting thin white strips on both sides of each column, but I'm debating between using a single fabric for borders and separation strips, or bust more blue scraps by making piano key borders and separation strips. 

Sounds like I've got company!