One Monthly Goal: Feb 2016 Sew Blocks Together, and Baste the Cultural Fusion Windmills Quilt - Done!

http://redletterquilts.blogspot.com/2016/02/omg-its-finished-party-february-2016.html

I have finished my February One Monthly Goal and am linking to OMG site...!

First I sewed my Cultural Fusion Windmill blocks together.....

 

Then I decided I wanted more length, so I looked for appropriate fabric in my boxes, sewed another row of blocks and added them to the quilt.  It is now about 45 * 60 inches!  

I decided to use solid Kona Black for the backing, so I had to sew two pieces together.  There is one seam in the backing...

My friend from the Saturday quilting group mentioned last week that she liked to spray baste, so I thought since I had won a can of 505 spray basting at the holiday party, that she could talk me thru how to do the procedure.  Instead, she generously offered to have me come to her place and she showed me how it was done!

To be honest, she did most of the work, but I did spray the last row...  There are no photos of me spraying, but really I did!

First we put the backing, batting and top on the table to be sure everything would fit and was flat.  The batting I brought already had a chunk cut out and the backing was much longer than it needed to be.  In her experience the batting and backing could pretty much be the same size as the top.  We cut to size after double checking the placement on the table.

After checking the size of everything, we folded the top and the batting up to expose the backing.

Then the backing was sprayed.

Then folding the corners back so the center was put down first, the batting was smoothed down on the backing.

Once that was smooth, the batting was sprayed.

Then the top was smoothed down.  Again the center was done first, then the corners.

At this point we put a few pins in the end that was done just to secure them.  Then the quilt was rearranged in the opposite direction (we didn't have access all around the table).  We folded the part that was done. folded the unsprayed top on top of that, and then pinned the batting so it was easier to handle.  Lifted it and sprayed the backing again.

More of the batting was smoothed and then sprayed, and more of the top was smoothed down.  Then we moved the quilt so the next row was visible and everything was repeated again.

I did the last row.  When I finished we put in a few more pins, flipped it over to double check how it looked on the back.  She unpinned and made one adjustment.  Then we folded the project up so I could take it home!

Here it is with all the blocks sewed together, basted, ready for me to quilt!

My friend was wearing a t-shirt and when she sprayed she sort of covered her face with the sleeve of the shirt so she wouldn't breath in the fumes.  When I sprayed I just held my breath, it wasn't a problem.  It was easy to control where the spray went.  I think I could really spray inside with open windows and it would be okay.

The brand of spray I used is called 505.  My friend usually uses a brand that she gets from Home Depot made by 3M.  The last time she was there they were out of that brand so she got this kind, she said it worked well for her. The key, she said, was to ask for something that would work with fabric.

I have the quilt laid out on the table in my sewing room now.

I forgot to keep track of my time on this month's goal.  It was one session to sew the blocks I had already sewn together.  A few hours I think.  Then I thought over night and made the extra blocks.  Could have been 4 to 6 hours, I'm not sure.  It only took about 40 minutes to press the pieces and to do the spray basting.

It was really nice of my new friend to help me out so much.

And super to have the One Monthly Goal to push me along with finishing things up!  If you would like to be in the fun, go to Red Letter Quilts OMG page!

http://redletterquilts.blogspot.com/2016/02/omg-its-finished-party-february-2016.html