The Wiz

After days and weeks and months of hand quilting, it is a real feeling of satisfaction to finally take the quilt off the frame and spend a few quiet evenings hand sewing the binding around the edge. It makes such a tidy and beautiful finish to what has been raw fabric and batting edges. The binding is a relatively quick task -- it takes only a handful of hours, all told -- and is, to me, really the cherry on top. Just look at how lovely that red edging is, and how it sets off the sandy backing... *sighs with satisfaction and pets it again*

If you've forgotten in the ensuing months what the completed quilt top looks like, see it (sadly a bit blurry) here.
I mentioned, at one point, that I was trying to make the quilting look like stormy winds and tornadoes. Well, I quickly gave up on the tornado idea, since the one I attempted was pretty wobbly and awkward, but I think that I really got the hang of the swirly windy lines (and even managed some nice smooth curves) by the end. Hopefully you can make out the windy quilting lines in this photo, to see what I mean. (Click it to see it larger, if you can't.) As someone who generally plans things out to the Nth degree, it was a very freeing exercise in creativity, to just go with the flow and let the lines fall where they may. I think it ended up looking pretty good, and certainly will do the job of keeping my HLM warm through a chilly spring.