Quilts & Basting

I've just spent a wet morning picking up my poorly car from the garage for it who had allegedly fixed it, for it to break again:-( We limped back to the garage in the rain and then I had to wait to be picked up).

Back home now anyhow.  Yesterday I finished piecing the quilt top for my daughters quilt, using some  Tanya Whelan offcuts I had left over from another project and some plain white cotton I found at a car boot sale.  It's a single bed size, although I I've made it a little wider to drape over the sides a bit.

As this is really a quilt to use up fabric and things I already have, I'm not buying special backing fabric, so the back of the quilt is going to be a simple white sheet, although I might some fun with the binding.

I'm going to give it a good press this afternoon and then make my quilt sandwich before deciding on how to quilt it.  Hopefully when the weather improves I will be able to show you a finished quilt!

Speaking of quilting, this weekend it was my birthday and we went to York for the day.  Whilst the rest of the family headed off to the train mueum, my mother in law and I headed off to the York Quilt Museum and Gallery.  The museum is managed by the Quilters Guild and was staffed by really knowledgeable ladies and volunteers who were able to tell us all about the exhibits. The exhibitions there change regularly and the one we went to see was Decline & Revival, quilting through the 20th century.  Unfortunately we you can't take any photographs of the quilts (although there are a few on their website), but it was fascinating to see some really beautiful quilts from different times through the century and hear about their history and how they were made.

I have to mention one thing that particularly caught my eye however whilst watching a volunteer demonstrating hand quilting.  She was quilting as you go, and it looked as though her piece had been hand basted with lots of little stitches in black thread.  However looking closer, they weren't thread, she told me they were microstitch tags little plastic tacks that you could use as a time saving way to baste your quilts.  They are a bit like the plastic tags in clothes shops that keep the label in and you apply then with a gun.

Has anyone else got experience of using these? It looks a fantastic gadget to me! Apparently they have been around for a while. I use quilters spray for my mini quilts (but it seems to get everywhere) and safety pins for larger ones, but this looks like a much simpler quicker alternative.  I'd love to know if you've used these before!

This afternoon though I'll be on my hand and knees on the living room floor with my safety pins!

Keep cozy x