Christmas Log Cabin

I just uploaded pictures of the quilt I just finished. I have to tell you
all the story and please try not to laugh to hard. :)

To start off with, I love a good challenge.

- This quilt measures 116" x 124" (maybe even a little larger). My
frame will only do about 100" and that is pushing it. I researched through
the group pages about quilting a large quilt and felt confident that I
could handle this.
- I quickly realized that my quilt was not advancing evenly.. no
problem, I just lined my pantograph up with the previous row and continued.
- Because of the size and not stretching my fabric as I rolled enough, I
had HUGE puckers on the back and when I looked under the bottom, it looked
like my grandpa's sagging britches the back was so uneven. So after
ripping out three 10" rows of stitching, I then crawled up and tighten the
backing using binder clips (yep the kind to hold stacks of paper together).
Worked like a charm, I just had to crawl under to remove them before
advancing and crawl back under and reattach them before quilting again.
- About 2 ft from the bottom on the first half of the quilt, I realized
that I couldn't roll anymore up because I had ran out of room because of
the 1/2" extra space my new dead bar was taking up. :)
- I then decided that I would go ahead and remove the top and start on
the other side only to find I had no way to attach the bottom of the
backing or top to the rails since it was quilted.
- Hmmmm.....
- Off to Harbor Frieght we go to purchase the magnets that hold tools on
the wall... Yes, they really will smash your fingers they are so strong.
This allowed me to float backing, batting and top, line everything up and
secure with magnets. No worries of anything shifting with those babies.
- Now off to quilting again, only this time because the first half was
quilted it was really advancing unevenly. To the point that I couldn't
work with it.
- That's when I decided to quilt as much as I could, unroll and add a
baby quilt and roll back up. Worked great and allow me to finish the
entire quilt.

I learnt so much during the process and am ready to do another large one
quickly so that I can continue to learn more. I wish you could have been a
fly on the wall because I can promise it was one of the most comical
experiences of my quilting career.

Rhonda