Bonding Away, Near Philadelphia

My bonding woes have come to an end, thanks to a house call by a good friend! Nearly Blogless Bobbi showed up while I was out on Friday, and dropped of a nice roll of fresh bonding filament with the caveat "Read the directions!" Yes, ma'am. By the time we turned off the Netflix for the night, a dozen little Liberty frocks were traced and cut, waiting for the next step. Now the hand buttonholing for three of the twelve is complete, and I've picked out the threads for the remaining nine.

I'm excited about this little project, said Mrs. I-Don't-Make-Wall-Hangings (Ha!). I know that Sherry and Caroline are fond of the one I made for my first granddaughter, and hope that Anastasia and Aberdeen will love this one, too.

I have a hard time, like most people I suppose, trying to hand quilt a large project in the summer. Just so hot and heavy on the lap. So summer would be the season of applique, and hand buttonholing is my main method. I'd begun to make a transportation quilt for Eli, and the first bonding, as you may have read, was a disaster. Turns out I had the iron way too hot. Here's block number one of twelve that I will work on this summer, once Sunday Best is finished. 

This transportation quilt is going to be challenging; the pattern I for crib size, and I'm making a twin quilt for a big boy bed. I've cut my blocks to finish at 14" and mapped out a design that will include filler elements to bring it all up to size. An ambitious project, but for a little fellow who deserves something really special. I expect this is the first of many photos of transportation that will grace this blog in the months to come. I would love to have this quilt finished for Christmas . . . .