Taupe progress - and a word of caution

I am getting on quite well with handquilting my Lozenge EPP, despite not being the world's greatest handquilter.  The problem is, I'd always rather be doing something else!



I love the look of handquilting - I don't think you can beat the soft, puckered finish it gives to any project, and it just oozes care and time (because, let's face it, that's what you have had to invest to get that great texture.  That and sore fingers...).



However, there's no getting away from the fact that it takes time, time when I'd rather be cutting up fabric and chain piecing at speed on my sewing machine.  And pressing: I do love pressing.  But handquilting?  Not so much.  However, when I actually have no choice but to do it, because I am away from the machine, usually when watching younger son doing sport, I sort of sink into the slower tempo and surprise myself with how much it is possible to achieve.  Little and often seems to be the key, whereas I am usually an all or nothing sort of person, preferring to blitz.



So I have nearly finished the lozenges and am planning the border quilting.  The bad/sad news however is that when I unfolded the quilt yesterday morning I saw that there are fade lines on the backing.



I think it can only have happened on Tuesday and I must have left the bag too near a window as it was a beautiful day.  Maddening how quickly something so permanent can happen... Be warned and keep your WIP's safe and out of direct light, even in England.

I am still going to finish the quilt.  I may expose the whole back a little when it is done to see if I can lessen the contrast.  If not, I will just have to pretend this is a vintage piece which has suffered during its long life...  It does raise the question how much we take permanence for granted: do we really think about the durability of the quilts we make until something like this happens?  I certainly don't. We expect our fabric to be made to a high standard and to last in that state, as long as we want it to.
 
And on the whole we are privileged to work with material made to a very high standard, so we forget that occasionally the colour might run or the dye fade in sunlight.

The backing I chose was from my stash and must have been purchased about 12 years ago as the shop where I bought it is no more.  It is a soft brushed cotton, woven stripe.  Whether that makes it more unstable I cannot say, but I will chalk this up to experience, and Carry on Quilting in the best British tradition.

I am linking to Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday as I wrote most of this post yesterday but forgot to upload my photos and actually publish last night!