A Finish - Almost

I don't know how many hours I've spent quilting this tablecloth, but it has been fun!  It is lovely to be able to take a damaged, but pretty tablecloth and make it usable again.  I don't know if it qualifies as recycling or upsizing.  I'll have to look at the definitions!

This time, I wanted to try using a finer quilting thread, so used 60 wt Superior Bottom Line in white.  It behaved very well and I was really happy with it, particularly for all the scribbling.  It is one of the very few threads I've used, that haven't left the bobbin case area covered in lint.

One of the challenges of quilting old tablecloths, is to design motifs that will fit comfortably between the embroidery motifs already on the cloth.  I really enjoy this aspect, but must have spent three weeks mulling over the look I wanted for the quilt.  I was worried that feathers might overwhelm the existing embroidered butterflies, so chose to quilt flowers instead.  There was quite a large empty space near the scalloped edges of the quilt, so I drew scallops to break up the space.   I didn't want to have exactly the same flowers on each side of the quilt, so I mixed them up a bit.

Once again, I made extensive use of Cindy Needham's background stencils.  I used the circular Universal stencil to mark out the centre medallion and clamshells to add interest.  I used the 3/4 inch grid stencil for the circles and the triple line stencil for the border.  By the time I had finished quilting the tablecloth, I was looking for a border that would be elegant, simple and quick.  I LOVE the triple line stencil, and can see myself using it a lot.

Happy quilting, all!