That’s a big chunk of work completed.
First on the agenda was to snip away the excess fabric on the back. It’s not really necessary, but I’d like this quilt to be as soft and supple as possible, so it was worth the investment of time.
Following a few more hours of work today, the quilt is sandwiched and trimmed out. It was a tricky one to sandwich because there’s no straight edge to line things up to, the light, soft fabric of the backing is harder to control than firmer regular backing, and the quilt itself needs to be handled a bit more gently than usual because of all the hand sewn seams around the edge.
The easiest way to manage the job turned out to be first sandwiching the backing and backing on the floor, then hanging that up on the design wall, batting side out. Onto that I pinned the quilt top, just along the top edge, and then I rolled it up and sprayed adhesive onto the batting from the top down, unrolling the top and smoothing out as I went along. I masked everything off with pieces of plastic drop sheet, which I seem to be able to get several uses out before they get impossibly gummed up!
I’d left the outer row of hexie papers in place to stabilise the edges, stop stitches unravelling and keep the folds crisp till they could be stuck down permanently.
Once the top was in place and smoothed out, I went round the edge unpicking the basting, gently pulling out the papers and sticking the hexies back down again.
Then I pinned each hexie on the outside edge through the sandwich, and finally, I trimmed out the excess batting and backing.
Now I’m ready to start assembling sections of the facing and stitching them in place along the outer edge. Finally, I’ll hem the inner edges down onto the backing. And then, and then, I can start quilting!
I’m having to take things a bit slowly just now. My back is going through a rather painful phase, and to top that off, I put my foot down a hidden pothole in the grass when I was walking Mouse the other day, and I’ve managed to tear the ligaments down the outside of my right ankle. There’s some quite spectacular swelling and bruising, and I’m lurching around in a rigid brace. Happy days….
Never mind. In a while, I’ll be able to sit contentedly and start hand quilting this baby 🙂
talltalesfromchiconia 
looking lovely Kate! Hope your back and ankle are feeling better soon *hugs*
Thanks! I don’t think the back’s ever going to be better, exactly, but the ankle is on the mend…
My word, what a stunning piece of handwork. Bad news about your back and ankle, though, so take it easy, Sweet Pea xxx
The quilt is going to be one of my favourites, I think, and there are so many fabric memories in it! The back is just what is, it’s never going to be better exactly, just days when it’s less or more painful. The ankle is nearly as colourful as the quilt, but is definitely on the mend 🙂
So lovely… brings me so much joy every time I look at it ♥️
Not good about your ankle though 😬
My knee has been wrapped up from yesterday as it’s been very very painful and I have no idea why … thus the butterfly Placemat as I had my feet up the whole day 🤕
Ah, we’re a couple of old crocks, aren’t we? But we can still make pretty things…
Definitely 😁
When I did this type of facing on a Hexi a few years ago it was very satisfying as there were sort of markers of the ups and downs. Much better than miles of just straight! I hope the ankle recovers soon. More rest means quicker recovery!
I agree, this is a much more interesting way to finish a hexie quilt than to ‘bend’ the design by creating an artificial straight edge. At least I didn’t stuff up the trim-out this time, like I did with an earlier and much more complicated hexie quilt, Worldwide Friends. I had to make a load more facing hexies to compensate!
Lovely to see how you are tackling this. My hexies were packed away, maybe a task for the Autumn?
Autumn would be a great time for a lap project!
I love the way you are finishing this, it’s beautiful. Hope you’re soon feeling better,look after yourself x
I fell in love with the idea of not removing the pointy edge by infilling many years ago, and have used this or a similar approach every time I’ve made a hexie quilt since. It’s a lot more work, but I love the finished effect.
The ankle is on the mend, less painful already, but the back will merely go from uproar to constant whinging!
It is an interesting process to follow for sure!
Good luck with your back and ankle. I hope you’ll be able to walk better soon.
Thanks! The ankle is feeling better, and so long as I wear the brace to stop it rolling to the side, I can walk OK. The back… well, I just have to live with that!
Thank you for the details in putting this together. The quilt is exceptional gorgeous – it all so totally works – another winner! Oh no on your ankle, baby that injury and ‘heal quickly vibes’ being sent your way 🙂
I’m absolutely loving how it feels already as a sandwich, even without the quilting, so all the work will be totally worth it. Thanks for the healing vibes, they seem to be working!
ouch ouch, I sympathise. Your quilt looks amazing, I love how creativity blossoms in it. If I was a honey bee I’d check it out!
If you were a bee, you’d be very welcome in my anemone patch!
Heal up Kate! My back did a number on me a couple weeks ago, and I have a new appreciation for back spasms! Not the best combo to have the back and ankle bothering you at the same time. 😔 I love the hexie border, it will be so worth the extra effort, the perfect finish to this beauty!
My back’s usually a constant grumble in the background, a permanent feature of my life, but every so often the degenerative slippage flares up and I’m in pain in every position. However, I refuse to go back onto the ‘hard stuff’, so it is what it is. Having the ankle too is a bother, but that at least will get better. And I totally agree about the border being totally worth the extra effort. In truth, I don’t want this quilt to end, so prolonging the time spent on it is no bad thing!
Bless you, Kate. My mom had degenerative disk disease and arthritis in her spine from age 25; I have a small sense of what you experience, and you are a trooper. Hope it eases up for you soon.
Thanks, me too! The vertebrae slide around a bit on either side of where I’ve had the spine fused, and sometimes I just have to wait for things to go ‘clunk’ before it’ll ease up. Never mind, I’ll distract myself with hexies!
So many steps between the steps we love. Effect is worth the effort. To health and healing.
Thank you! I think it’s going to be totally worth it. And for the good wishes 🙂
OW OW OW OW OW! So sorry about the ankle. It’s amazing what we can get up to just living our daily lives. (I managed to blow out my knee last month while bringing in the garbage cans.)
This project is so beautiful! Even the back of your quilt top looks fantastic!
Hopefully, Mouse is being a good nurse, or at least offering moral support and snacks.
Glad you like it! Mouse is puzzled by my sudden lack of mobility and keeps bringing me toys to ‘fight’ over. I doubt he’d offer me snacks, he’s far more likely to snarf them down himself, being a permanent bottomless pit of perceived starvation!
Stunning really ! Take care of your foot.
Thank you! And I will!
There’s a ‘Durn!’ and a ‘Wow!’ in this comment – and you’ll know which bit of news they are to be attached to. I lived with back pain that crippled me at times from puberty through to my 49th year. No expert knew why and nothing could be done and then I found the right practitioner who attended to it, read the xrays correctly, and fixed it in a week and I’ve not had that problem since. Never say never! I’m in love watching the care and talent with which you tackle this putting together process. It’s inspirational and aspirational and highly delightful! ❤
Sadly, I have to say never… I have an assortment of titanium bits and pieces in my spine already, my condition is degenerative, and I refuse to take the medication that would make me comfortable because it’s addictive and also makes me foggy, emotional and slow. So I live with permanent pain, but a clear mind. Sometimes it flares up, and then I have a bit of a grumble and have to take things slowly. I just have to work on things bit by bit and stop when the back says stop. It’s interesting how often that coincides with stages of work in the quilt!
quilt looks wonderful, can’t imagine ever doing all that work. Hope the back calms down and the ankle heals quickly.
There is a lot of work in it, done very slowly over 4 years or so, so I don’t feel it has been a marathon! The back will sort itself out to a more comfortable level with time, and the ankle is mending already.
Hidden potholes are a cruel thing… ouch. It’s fortunate you have creative projects to go on with, and good company.
One of those tumbles where you immediately know you’ve done a fair bit of damage… luckily I was only at the bottom of the street and didn’t have far to hobble 🙂 I have a rigid ankle brace, having done the exact same thing before…
It’s a good thing you’re (mostly) enjoying this project! I can appreciate having a project to take your mind off your body and its’ complaints. Sure hope that ankle heals completely and that you’ll be able to avoid a similar injury in the future. Is Mouse missing out on his walkies? Or is he content to merely zoom around the yard for the time being? 😉
Mouse is getting shorter walkies (I do need to mobilise a bit or it’ll stiffen too much) and also more zoomies around the yard and games in the house with his tug toys. He seems to be OK with that! You’re quite right about the project taking my mind off the body, it works pretty well until things start shouting too loudly for attention 🙂
Great progress on the quilt. Hope your back and ankle heal quickly.
The ankle is mending nicely, and the back is at least holding steady and not getting worse 🙂 More stitchery this afternoon!
well my “Like” for the post is not for your problematic body parts but for the wonderful pathway your hexie quilt is on…as it glides to a finish line at some point real soon.
I’m all good mostly on problematic body part issues, I believe my little collision with the hot oven rack is healing, will remove the wrap thing on Tuesday (7days) and other than getting soaking wet in rain on my walk that had to partially aborted, I’m all good…made hot drink, put on heating – NOW, and thank goodness I went walking this morning, it’s raining cats and dogs…
It’s getting cooler here, but nowhere near a need to put on heating yet. Ideally, we’d get a few more days of rain and then it would mostly dry up for winter and I get to spend much more time outside without fear of heatstroke! I hope your burned bits will soon be better, and that the weather will clear to let you walk again 🙂
You poor thing – horrible painful things to cope with. I went over on my ankle a few weeks ago when out walking the dogs and it was immediately horribly painful and I wondered whether I’d be able to get back home down the hill. It hurt later on and the next day but, luckily, I think I’d just wrenched it as there didn’t seem to be any lasting damage for which I should probably thank my sturdy walking boots.
The quilt is looking amazing and I appreciate the step by step photos as I can see more clearly what you’re up to – I’m awaiting the last step as I’m still having trouble visualising it.
I was wearing my hi-tech flipflops, so a total absence of support… Hurting like hell is a good description, almost to the point of nausea… I’m at a slow stage of the quilt, lots more hand sewing to get all the hexies attached at the back. Next step by step may take a while…
Thank you for the step by step instructions Kate. I have mostly used hexies for small projects like cushions and either squared them off or appliqued them to a rectangular backing. One day I will have a go at a faced edge.
Table runner? Place mats? Hexies as edging on a hand towel? Lots of ways to test the idea 🙂
Good thinking Kate!
Looks lovely!! Hope you’re on the mend quick 💖
It’s coming along well 🙂 Ankle is definitely mending, now I just have to wait for the back to go clunk and hopefully that’ll be a bit less painful for a while!
Oh dear, I hope your ankle heals quickly!
The quilt looks absolutely beautiful. I don’t know what all the terms mean, but still enjoying following along as you make it.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the process, and I don’t think it matters a bit whether you know all the terms, but I’m very happy to explain anything you’re curious about!
Sure hope you’re feeling better. Quilt is wonderful!
Ankle’s on the mend, back is slowly clicking back into place on a more regular basis and the quilt is a magnet I can’t seem to put down!
So sorry about your back and the unexpected ankle injury. Yikes! I must admit that I thoroughly dislike cleaning up the back of a quilt top. But, I agree, it lays much nicer in then end with that little extra effort. Beautiful work!
Work behind the scenes always feels a bit like wasted effort, but isn’t. It’s like wearing nice underwear, it gives you a sense of confidence that everything is put together properly!
Hahaaaa! I like that mental image!