Hot Work in a Snow Drift.

As you all know I am having fun learning to quilt on a frame, although I am saving so much time, cue happy dance, I am wasting a great deal of wadding, some backing fabric as well but that goes in the scrap bins.
I helped with the cost by purchasing a 25 yd roll of 90" wide wadding for a super price from Empress Mills. I have cut 2 quilt lengths from it, but the waste annoys me still. Last night I had a "light bulb moment", today I unrolled the remaining 20 miles of wadding, and there is the snow drift , I would have taken a photo but could not escape the drift.
Using my largest cutting mat, 12 1/2" ruler, rotary cutter, lots of sweat and quite a few "grown up" words I trimmed 10" from the length. 
80" is  the maximum width that I can get on the frame and still access my machine to change the bobbin.(The 10" strip will be cut in half long ways and zig zagged together, rinse and repeat to give me a usable piece of wadding.)
I then manhandled the snow drift to the frame, and with more sweating, grunting and lots of huffing and puffing, wrestled it onto the bottom bar, it just about went on with about 5ft draped over.

The last 5ft is just draped on ready to be pulled up and floated on the quilt backing. This means that when I FMQ to the bottom of my next quilt I will just cut across the fleece and there will be no waste.

I am also considering joining 2 quilt tops with a 3" strip and doing the same, just cut across the joining strip at the bottom of the first quilt. That can act as a border and my next top is loaded and ready to go. Time saved if not fabric.

While I was at it I decided to go for gold, when I bought the frame it had never been set up full size. This meant that the leader cloths were in 2 pieces for each roller. I was in such a hurry to get started that I loaded them like this and just pinned them together when I loaded the quilt layers. Well not no more, so to speak, I have taken them off, sewed the bits together and reattached them.

NEAT.

I went shopping with a friend yesterday, Angela wanted new nets but is unwilling to struggle around in her wheelchair, so I went off with the hubby and duly found the pattern that she had selected. Today I had to shorten them by 4", why can you never get the right size? They are hung and looking good, my Janome QC sailed through the slippery fabric like a hot knife through butter.

We also had a quick tootle round Wyevale, just look at what jumped in to my arms.

The yellow rose has an amazing fragrance, I will be looking for a good pot to put it in tomorrow, just behind it is a Magnolia Stellata, half price woo hoo, this will also be going into a pot.

This cute little Gerbera had to come with me, I just love the colour.

These Camellias are in Lidl, less than £2, and will have the most fragrant white blooms, I bought them in bud as I will be potting them on later.

There a a few of these little wild flowers popping up and I am leaving most of them. They are so bright and happy, they deserve their place.

Finally, this is done and will be wrapped and in the post tomorrow, it is going North and I hope that it will be used and enjoyed. The stitch length is organic in places but it is part of my learning curve. I love it and would happily keep it for myself, I am even happier to be sending it off to be part of  another persons life.

Now it is time to get dinner on the go, mushrooms stuffed with pate and topped with herby breadcrumbs, new potatoes and salad.

                 TTFN                                                    Pam