Quilting Begins on the Yosemite Chapel Quilt

Though my day yesterday was filled with catching up with emails, getting correspondence underway again and general paperwork.... I happily found time in the afternoon to get some stitch time in. In the first picture today, there is a look at some of the completed couching... yes, I did say completed!

With the couching done I started to contemplate the machine quilting that I wanted to have on the piece.

When I begin this process, I hang the quilt back up on the wall and let it tell me where 'line' may be used to enhance the design. Afterall, quilting adds thin lines to your piece and this may be used to add detail, or used to pull entire sections together. (for thicker line elements I use embroidery floss hand sewn)

To get started I pull out threads I believe may work out well and lastly, I grab one of my favorite tools -- a Chacoliner/ by Clover.

I've included pictures that show the threads & chacoliner tool. Then below are two photos of one section where you can see how I use the chalk tool to block in my stitching and finally, how that same section looks after being quilted.

The quilting will continue... then it's on to the point where I square up my quilt and machine stitch that pile of  binding onto the edges

But, that's not the end --- it's just the beginning, and you'll have to stop back again to see what embellishments I'll pick to use. 

Happy Stitching!