Off Course Quilting - It's a Wrap!

WOOHOO! Quilting on Off Course is complete! I was so excited about finishing it, I took it out from under the machine and ran outside to take pictures! We all know that this one has dragged on way too long. Well, this week has been a bit of an up and down ride while quilting. . . On my last post, I showed some of the wave quilting and the geese were quilted into the negative space but the 'wings' were not quilted. At the time, I said one more solid day of quilting and it would be finished. . . that was until I hung it up on the design wall after finishing the wavy lines and Cs on the right side. . . I hung up the right hand corner (standing on a stool, with a pin, this quilt is heavy and I am short!) and looked down. . . the wavy lines were going down. . . wait. . . I have it hung up wrong. . . no it's not. . . OMG. . . NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I could feel a tantrum coming on and a word that I won't type here was uttered. I sat down. Looked at it. Yup, they are going vertical not horizontal as planned. . . if you read my last post, you know I had already spent three days ripping stitches. . . this would take three weeks! I'm not inclined to spend the next three weeks ripping stitches! NO WAY! Then I cried. Then I decided that was getting me pretty much no where. Then I thought, well, initially I had kicked around the idea of putting the wavy lines diagonally across on one side of the blocks and horizontal on the other. . . vertical might has to work. Then I emailed sent distress signals to two blogging buddies whose opinions I value and respect (Yvonne over at Quilting Jet Girl and Sandra over at Musings of a Menopausal Melon). I had taken really bad indoor photos and attached them. Asked them both if they thought this was a fatal mistake or if I could work with it and call it a 'design element'. . . Both of them were so sweet doing their best to talk me off the edge. Both thought it was not a wash. Both took a good amount of time looking at the pictures and writing their emails to me. I thank both of you ladies heartily and send a big cyber hug and MMMWAH your way! 

How did this happen you might ask? Well, I had not put the quilt back up on the design wall after I finished quilting the blocks. I just started quilting the lines. What I know all to well now is that when quilting on a domestic, it is easy to get the orientation of the quilt all wrong. . . especially when there really is no clear indication by the direction of the blocks - let's face it, I've got geese flying every which way on this bad boy. Note to self - check often and if in doubt, put it up on the wall - being lazy about that could cost a whole lot of hair stitch ripping later!

It took me an entire day to wrap my head around my blunder. And then I forged ahead. Left side horizontal, right side vertical:

This picture is sideways. . . it is right side up in my computer file. . . flipped when I uploaded it. . . This quilt truly does have a mind of its own ;)

I was so excited about the finished quilting, I took it directly out from under the needle and outside to snap pictures :)

Close up of block detail. Nice pinky in the air while taking pictures don't you think? haha

LURVE the texture in the wings of the ghost geese!

I used a double bat, Qulter's Dream wool and 100% cotton, love the poof too!

Hmmm. . . I was so excited about getting these pictures posted, I forgot to take a picture of the back!! :) That's ok, you'll be seeing the finished quilt all bound and washed very soon!

I wish you could see this quilt in person. All of the fabric is from the new Oakshott Colourshotts. They are spectacular! And they were a dream to quilt. I used Isocord thread (two spools. . . yeah, I know!). The combo of the sheen on the Isocord and the colors of the Oakshotts is nothing short of amazing! Oh, and the weight of these cottons? They are as heavy as any of the other the quality quilting cotton I use. It is not thin and it is not 'see through.' I cannot wait to make another quilt with Colourshotts. . . umm, yeah, I have more, don't judge! One more thing, I am receiving nothing for raving about these fabrics (or the thread for that matter). I bought them myself. I love them because they are fabulous :)

On to finish quilting my Michael Miller Challenge quilt. . . first there's some major ripping that is going to have to happen. . . UGH! The negative space didn't turn out quite as I would have liked... the good news? I did it with the walking foot - ripping is WAY easier. I didn't say more fun, I said easier ;)

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and DWM at Patchwork Times. Also linking up with Amy over at 13 Spools for Mistakes and All. To see the final post on this quilt go here :)