Basting Day

I had a friend, Kerri come over today and we worked on a project of hers. She is making a Christmas tree skirt and has never basted, quilted or bound a quilt and needed some help. We got on the floor and basted the tree skirt.
I told her that I prefer hand basting over safety pin basting. I don't like to stop mid-quilting to remove the pins, especially when I'm in my quilting groove! It takes a little longer to hand baste, but for me the extra time spend pays off when quilting.

We have another date next week to work on the quilting and binding. I think we can take our time with this project - after all, Christmas is a few months away!

She also showed me some applique she is working on... Now Kerri is completely self-taught with applique - I haven't shown her anything, so I was extremely impressed with her first ever applique project! Her stitches were barely visible, and here comes the bit that really impressed me - not knowing any better, she had used thick hand quilting thread, and doubled it!! I told her she must be a natural, because if she can do that good of a job with that kind of thread, and have it doubled, then when she uses the right thread, and a single strand, it will be so easy for her!

Kerri has a blog where she writes about all kinds of crafty/sewing/cooking things she does. Go check it out!