I sewed the first step of the binding at my dining room table since
I had to pack up my sewing area to stage our house to sell.
I had to pack up my sewing area to stage our house to sell.
The Completed Quilt
I finally finished the quilt last week and put it in the mail to Ryann on Friday. She should get it today.
It was a real frustration working with the woman who did the quilting. I gave her the completed top, the batting and the backing on April 9 and she promised me I'd have it back by May 20 (so I could finish it and get it to my granddaughter in time for her high school graduation on the 25th.) She lied. I didn't get my quilt back until June 22!! I kept contacting her and she kept making excuses. . . and, I was stuck.
At the end of May I attended a quilt show at the Dulles Expo Center and talked to someone who sells long-arm machines like the one the woman I hired owns. I asked her how long it would take to machine quilt a quilt the dimensions of mine. She said about 3 hours! Then, I met another woman who does machine quilting orders. She lives in Atlanta and people mail their projects to her to quilt, then she mails them back. The price she quoted me was exactly what I paid this local woman and she told me that once she received it, she'd complete it and mail it back in two-to-three weeks!
Live and learn! There are a number of things I learned from this experience. One is that I will try to machine quilt future quilts myself — even though I can't afford to own a long-arm quilting machine.
Still, I'm happy with the finished product and I think Ryann will be happy with it, too. That's what matters most.
