Speaking of hand applique, the border on this quilt was done in just that manner.When I designed the border, I asked my husband if I should do the applique by hand or machine. He said, "You spent all that time on the inside, why would you take a shortcut now?" Translation: Do it by hand.
Bruce has had a front row seat to my quilting activities over the years. He is artistic and creative in his own right and has a good eye. He has developed an especially keen eye for quilts and is very good at zeroing in on the areas I'd prefer to keep secret. There is no cutting corners on his watch.
I'm actually glad he urged me to do the work by hand. I think it lends a little bit of a traditional Hawaiian quilting aspect to this piece since the rest of it, other than the subject matter, is decidedly contemporary.
I contemplated doing the applique by machine, since I was down to the wire to get it finished for another show earlier this year. I am very definitely the "Queen of the Last Minute" when it comes to deadlines, which has sometimes backfired and did on this quilt. I sometimes get into a rush and do things I wouldn't normally do if I just sat back and thought about it for awhile.
After it wasn't accepted in that particular show, I took out all the quilting on her skirt, which was heavy and flattened it out. I also added the beads to the pieced inner border.
The lesson I learned from this quilt is to slow down and do what is right for the piece, and don't cut corners just to rush a quilt into a show. I think I'd rather forego a deadline than enter something I just didn't feel was my best effort.
She's ready now.
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