The Pearl Cave on a hot day.

Despite studio 2 having the nick name "The Pearl Cave", it is not as idyllic as it sounds on a hot day. With Temperatures starting to climb, after many false starts to our summer, the Pearl cave on a hot day gets HOT! A cooling/heating system is to be installed, (tomorrow, thank goodness) which will at least make it more comfortable to be in. In the mean time, if I want to do any quilting on predicted warm days like today, I either have to start a little earlier, and those that know me realise that's a bit of a stretch or quilt later into the evening. Well today I started a little earlier, (not ultra early) to get the ball rolling on my Texas Bluebonnet quilt.

After the usual preliminaries of cleaning the table, filling bobbins, checking tension etc, it was time to start stitching. My first job, SID the seam joining the border to the body of the quilt. By this stage already, the Pearl cave was warming. Pressing on, the next thing I wanted to do was some of the feather motifs in the triangles. I have practised and practised them, but you know what??.... my first one was a bit, let's say ruffled!! Anyway, as I progressed down the row of these triangles they did improve. This one pictured is the last I did for the morning before the heat beat me. The stray threads on top of it just need to be tied off, but I wasn't staying a minute longer down there than I had to, once it got warm. The backing fabric is very similar to the cream one in the bottom right hand corner of the above photo, so will show the quilting nicely. Does that mean then, I get 2 quilts for the effort of one?? When the temperature becomes more tolerable in the Pearl cave, I'll dive back in for the next session with my Texas Bluebonnet quilt!

Until the next time, enjoy your quilting.-Julie.