APPLIQUE PAINTBOX-I LOVE APPLIQUE

FINISHED!

Okay, I did it!  Mountmellick is quilted, bound, and hung!

It was actually kind of fun once I got started.  As I told you in the last post, I started the quilting process with a straight, flat, and perfectly stabilized quilt sandwich thanks to Cindy Needham.  Here is a closeup of the center medallion.

I cross hatched the middle and then quilted paisleys around the outside.  The broderie perse fabric is from Petra Prins reproduction Dutch chintz.  We are able to buy these now in the U.S. from webfabrics.com.  They are expensive but worth it.  It is always interesting to see the backing of a quilt to see how the quilting looks so I added this photo but since the thread blends so well with the fabric, you can't see too much.

This is a photo of me cheating.  I have terrible luck with a quilt lying flat if I sew the binding on in one long continuous piece.  Not only are my corners kind of curvy but there are waffles along the quilt sides.  The solution for me has been to do each side one at a time.  I measured along the rose 1/2" edging just inside the quilt, added the 2 1/4" at each end and eased the quilt edge to match the length of binding I had cut.  For me the problem is that the quilting tightens up the quilt but the outer edge to be bound has not be quilted and so therefore is longer.  I am happy with my solution but I know it is frowned upon.  
  

Here is what i have been seeing out my big window otherwise known as the cat TV.  

At the bottom of the second photo you can see a white crowned sparrow.  Both kitty and I are avid bird watchers.

Onwards!