Needlework Tuesday - Tortoise Quilting

 Some weeks I feel as though I haven't accomplished a thing.  I'll have spent hours stitching away, yet it feels as though I am no further along.  Then I reach that point where something changes, and voila, I notice the progress.  Oh how I love that moment.  It makes all that tedious work worth while.

One day I spent about two hours machine doing the button hole stitch around this flower.  I used cotton thread and a small stitch and worked very slowly.  I wanted to ensure that the straight edge of the stitch fell just off the edge of the flower. It is well worth taking the extra time to get the thread to lay exactly where I wanted without a gap between the thread and the flower that allows the background to peek through.

Next I added a two inch boarder.  The small floral is rather fun as opposed to using a plain or tone on tone fabric.

 The instructions then called to add half square triangles to two sides.   I used triangle paper to quickly sew them up.  If you are not familiar to the technique, visit the site Quilting and Whatnot for details as well as free pdf files of the printable paper.

The pattern I am using called for the rows of triangles along the top to be slanted the other direction.  That looked wrong to me so I changed them around and am very happy with them now.

I have now to sit and wait for my next local guild meeting when I will receive the next page of instructions.

It's been a lot of weeks, or more like months, since I started this quilt top.  Do you remember the four patch blocks.  I've now added the double tumbler boarder.  I used the Marti Michell template for easy cutting.  I am planning to make some tumbler quilts and wanted to see what they would look like in this orientation.  I really like the ones that are fat in them middle and narrow at the two ends. The dark red one just to the right of the centre on the top boarder is the look I want for a quilt.  But first, I need to add some single fabric boarders to bring this up in size.  It currently is 52 inches on a side. I'm thinking blues, but am not sure.

I don't really mind when a project takes me a long time to complete.  I enjoy the entire process, even when feels I'm not moving forward. Aarrg I remember when I had to make hundreds of french knots on a pillow  I never thought I would finish them.  I did, and the pillow still looks lovely.  After I have spent money for supplies, time planning and then many more hours sewing, I don't really mind spending a few more hours on the details.  They are what make my project mine and special to me.

Do you have a project that you've been working on for what seems like ages.  Whether it's one you are working on still, or one you've already finished, I'd love to hear about it, or better yet, add a link to a post about it on Mister Linky.

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.