Making quilting progress

The Friends of the Library book sale and my birthday got in the way of my quilting last week.  Then on Sunday, we went to the movies to see Oppenheimer.  Some years ago, I started to watch an opera based on his experiences at Los Alamos, but I just couldn't figure the story out, except for the fact that he smoked incessantly.   The music was very atonal, so I turned it off after about half an hour.  Oppenheimer smoked a lot in the movie, too, which was about the beginnings and workings of the Manhattan Project as well as the guilt and concern he experienced after the dropping of the bomb.  Three hours flew by, and, while one reviewer complained there was virtually no science in the film, that was a plus for me.  

But I digress!  Tuesday morning, I had a tutorial in using the long arm quilting machine at the Gypsy Moth Quilt Shop here in town.  Mary carries more modern fabrics which aren't always to my taste, but she does have some fun activities, including Quilt Bingo nights.  She also rents time on her Sweet 16 machine.  Now that I've taken my course, I can make appointments to use the machine even though I don't feel all that confident yet.  I hope that will come with time.

I took a small quilt to work on and managed to finish the quilting in a couple of hours.  There is one spot I need to redo on my machine and then I can put the binding (all ready to go) on.  Mary seemed surprised that I chose a fairly modern quilting design, but the Cakes on Stands seemed right for it. 

I haven't taken a photo yet but will soon.  Here's one of the blocks, made by my friend Susan from Washington state.  I worried about quilting on top of the rick rack, but it was no problem at all.

Yesterday I put the two sections of my Hankie quilt together, added the borders, did a little more quilting, and cut out the binding.  Today I sewed the binding t the front and started hand sewing it to the back.  I have just a few more spots to hand quilt, but you can see that most of the quilting is done.  

It's a fairly large throw and a little fragile.  While quilting, I got the walking foot caught in one of the hankies and then, to add insult to injury, poked the hole with my finger.  I have to figure out how to mend that spot.  Even if I never give it away, I risk making the hole bigger as I handle the quilt.  I'm thinking of embroidering some cross stitches at that spot, but I might also do a little sashiko.  I'll keep thinking about it as I sew that binding down, probably a side per day.