Basted before breakfast

Didn't quite get finished with the basting last night - had to put the project away and lay the table for dinner* - so I got on with it immediately on coming downstairs this morning, and now, at last! it's ready for the machine -

Start in the middle... The horizontal pins mark 10" intervals, and the masking tape will be moved along so I can keep an eye on the straightness of the quilted lines.

While handstitching (and listening to continuous podcasts!) I've been looking forward to the quilting, and its sense of systematic progress after the many revisions of the layout. Of course the tidying of ends will be tedious, but I'm looking forward to more continuous listening, catching up with some favourite radio programmes.

The machine awaits - not the newer model that fastens the stitching at start and finish, and cuts the thread, which then unthreads itself. No, not that one, with all its electronic "leave me alone, I'm thinking!" noises.

I'll be using the non-computerised straightstitch, quite old now, one of the first "speedy" models with a big throat (for bulky quilts, ah when did I last make one of those...) -

Before the back could be basted on (yes, it could  have been fused on, but that would have meant a search for the fusible!) I stitched round the edges of all the pieces, and for the lightweight and slippery silk pieces, put in some background stitching - perhaps to remove later, perhaps to leave in. That handstitch took raaather longer than expected, and in the end some tonal adjustment was needed -

Once a few rows have been stitched, I can estimate how long the quilting will take - current guess is 6 hours, but this could be a wild and grievous underestimate! Only five days are left till the deadline. The race is on!

*When he came for dinner last night (and stopped my basting) my son brought these, which gladden my heart and adorn the now-serene surface of the table -