wilthshire-ing along

yesterday i got to be a quilter again for a day.

there's so much going on in our family life at the moment, some big developments and changes included. next week the mr and i were heading out of the country to iceland and amsterdam to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. instead, we are now heading to california for at least a month with our youngest daughter while our older son has medical treatments there. we're uprooting and relocating temporarily while we try to get him fixed up after four long years of increasingly problematic gastro-intestinal issues. as difficult as it's all been and as crazy as relocation will be, we are so grateful to finally have him on an upward path rather than wasting away while his system shuts down, which is where we've been for the last year. there is still no absolute solution, but we have support and help, and a direction to move in for the first time since this began. it's a good thing.

so i've been busy with the multiple home renos we're working on for our family, with a spring break trip for the kids with their cousins while my husband was with our son, with getting ready to move for a while. it's a lot.

for the day i took a break and was a quilter.

this morning i cleaned up my liberty fabric shelf, bringing more order to my sewing room, and worked on projects to take with me on our stay in california. i made and put on the binding of "wiltshire rows" by machine. i started gathering a tin of sewing supplies for the other projects i'm going to take. and i caught up on blogging, including a couple of retro-published posts for the last few weeks because i like to keep things in place and in order.

while we're gone, i've decided to handquilt "improv in an afternoon" if it turns out i have time there. i might be able to trim "fall paint" and prep it's binding, too. i have a few more days. it would be so nice if i could get my liberty courthouse steps quilts sandwiched so i could handquilt those, too, or my liberty christmas log cabin quilt. but that seems a bit much to hope for the time i have left and the list of other things to do.

while i was putting this binding on today, i happened apon a very useful tip to tuck away for future use. most of the time, i can make and put on a binding without looking at a graphic or tutorial anymore. the very last part where you join the two ends is always the trickiest bit. i'm still a little hit and miss on that one. but today i was using a piece that was leftover from a previous liberty + chambray quilt binding, so the end of the strip was already cut on the diagonal. this helped me know exactly how to put it on the other end piece because i already know right sides go together and which direction the diagonal should run. 

it worked like a charm! i think i'll always diagonally cut the one end piece before i put it on the quilt from now on.

doing the machine attachment of the binding is always so dull and tedious. i have to sew on the turtle speed because i'm using the walking foot. the corners are troublesome. mine have been a little wonky lately and i don't know why (too much fabric? not enough? something else?) so i tried to be extra careful with them. finally it was all done and now it's ready for the part i really like - the handbinding.

d3 (away at college) and i were texting back and forth the whole time because i sent her teaser photos. wiltshire is her favorite liberty print and this quilt is for her, which she still hasn't guessed. she keeps threatening to steal it.

 i showed her the stack of wiltshire i still have left and assured her there's plenty for a few more quilts. really, i'm not sure what i'm going to do with all this! 

i also need to figure out where to put it as i neglected to make room for it on the liberty shelf when i was arranging it this morning.

i'm sure it will all work out somehow, just like the rest of what we're working through, too.