My Cup Runneth Over Finshed!

As you can tell from yesterday’s post, this week is going a little crazy on me.

It seems like life runs in waves. Sometimes there’s not much to do and it’s a great time to chill out, read, catch up on some Dr. Who episodes, and finish a couple quilts.

But other times life just seems to fly by like a freight train running full blast through a chaotic twist of projects, deadlines, play dates, and show quilts.

Trust me, I’m not complaining, but I’ve never had so much to do or accomplished so much in one month as I have this July.

Maybe July is just my magical month where the perfect combination of sunlight, iced tea, and grilled hamburgers combines to make me one super powered, ultra efficient quilter / business owner.

I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I’d really love to bottle this feeling and pull it out in the depths of January when I’m stuck in the middle of several projects.

This month I have not only have I finished two major quilting projects: Shadow Self and just yesterday My Cup Runneth Over:

This finished quilt looks a lot different from her unquilted self back in March, and I’m extremely pleased with how she has finished

The idea for the extra thread work came in the middle of the night. I was half dreaming when I suddenly thought of Dottie Moore’s beautiful satin stitched quilts and realized that what I really needed to do with this quilt was let go.

Let go of all the rules, the need for perfection, and just stitch until I was ready to stop. Of course, I didn’t realize that this would mean another 6 hours of quilting!

The catch was I had no time and the quilt had to be photographed Tuesday morning so I could order prints in time for the Asheville Quilt Show.

I’ve been wanting to have prints of a few quilts and maybe even greeting cards for awhile, but never got around to it until now. At the last minute!

Of course Monday I was busy with a number of things which left Monday night. I really thought as I sat down at my desk that I would be quilting only for 2 hours and maybe get to bed my midnight at the latest.

That just lets you know how much more time satin stitching can take! I rolled into bed at 4 am, exhausted, but extremely happy with the new addition to My Cup Runneth Over:

I have added spidery tree roots running through the water section. This was stitched in Yenmet Metallic thread, both in free motion and with an open toe embroidery foot. I really put the new Horizon through its paces and she stood up to the test so far!

I decided on this addition because the water was a symbol of all the abundance flowing forth: specifically the love I feel for my husband and son, the good fortune at being able to work at home, and the joy of being able to express these feelings in thread.

But I also wanted a symbol for how this love and abundance is also my roots to this world. My family keeps me grounded and quilting fuels my soul.

With every stitch, I liked this goddess more and more. Though I still feel like she needs some paint in the background, I’m very pleased with how this turned out.

While Shadow Self taught me the importance of planning ahead, My Cup Runneth Over has taught me the importance of letting go and allowing myself the freedom to just play and stitch and let go of micromanaging every little thing.

This is also the first quilt that I have bound with an artistic facing rather than traditional quilt binding. I also seriously broke the rules by fusing it to the back!

I’ll definitely share an article on how to do this soon. I only hand stitched a little in the corners to super secure these areas. The length of the sides, top, and bottom are really secured with Wonder Under fusible web!

This type of binding was perfect for this type of art quilt where you don’t want any kind of border, not even a simple binding. By pulling the top slightly to the back, the facing takes care of any raw edges and the fusible web helps to stiffen the quilt a bit, which helps it hang straight.

So that is one more quilt checked off my “to-do” list! I’m extremely happy to be finished with her, but unfortunately she was only one item on a very long list!

For the rest of the week I’m going to be busy trying to work out a problem we’re having with the new DVD, writing the book, finishing up a magazine article, and preparing for the Asheville Quilt Show!

I’m really getting excited about the show and spending the weekend in the mountains. Josh and I will be vending at the show, so if you’re planning to attend, make sure to check out our booth!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day