Mt. Fuji

The Heart of Vermont Quilt Guild had a Asian panel challenge this year.  Anyone who wanted one was given a panel that belonged to a quilter who had passed away.  Some were basically florals, and some were scenes as mine was.  At first, I thought I'd cut it up, but then I decided it was really too nice to do anything more than quilt it by hand.  I thought I'd try "big stitch quilting" with perle cotton.  I hated doing that!  It was difficult to get a needle through, and I tried all sorts of needles.  I also thought I'd try quilting with some gold thread here and there.  It shreds if you use too long a piece (or maybe I didn't use the proper needle).  But I managed.  

In the end, I reverted to regular hand quilting thread, mostly black, and got very nice results, especially on the tree.  The quilting created good texture.  Here I am at show and tell last Tuesday night.  I was very glad to finish this project but also to have an opportunity to do some hand quilting which I have always enjoyed.  Paul's sister saw this picture and liked it, so I'm mailing it to her next week.  

Now I'm working on a little hand appliqued piece for a show and contest at the new quilt shop in town.  We can do just about anything except that the finished result needs to be only 12" x 15".  It's been quite humid lately, so yesterday I turned the heat pump to air conditioning and worked away on the new piece.  I'll keep at it today, and maybe I'll have another picture to share soon.