A Quilty Kind of Sunday ~ A New Quilty Gadget

My quilty kitties are watching me expectantly.

Katniss is giving me, "the look."

Maestro is peeking out at me from under the batting roll.

Nutmeg has given up and is taking a nap in the basket.

Well Nutmeg did follow me into the quilting room and was watching. 

Then she decided she might as well take a nap in the basket

because I have gone in the room everyday for several days and not actually 

done any quilting.

Today is the day!

I start (re) quilting ... 

  This Quilt

I have been catching up with other quilty commitments

and ... quite frankly ... 

I think I have been dragging my feet on this one.

I think I am feeling a little intimidated by having to actually quilt this one.

I think I need to stop thinking,  get over myself and just quilt it. 

This quilt is not ever going to be "perfect."

I just need to do the best I can with it.

One of the things I noticed on my first quilty attempt was I had a hard time
anchoring the quilt at the top and sides.

So ... 

I got these $10 "Channel Lock" rings to help me with those long straight quilting lines.

The rings attach over the wheels of the machine on the track.

This one is to do a horizontal line.

Here I am anchoring the top to the already anchored batting.

I used a few open safety pins to help hold the top in place for this.

Then I moved the rings to the vertical track in the back.

Then I anchored the top at the sides. 

These channel locks have limited use as I have to go to the back of the table
and move them every time I want to quilt a straight line

but they were very helpful for these initial steps.

There is an expensive electro-magnetic channel lock add-on to my machine that I really, really want to get someday so I can do free form straight line quilting on my long arm.

I am saving my pennies up for that one.

In the meantime, this will do. 

Maestro is curled up next to me now on her red chair as I type this post.

I love how she follows me around all day and keeps me company.

It is cool and going to rain.

Today is also a family get-together day to celebrate our oldest son's birthday.

After that,  I will be quilting "this quilt."

Wish me luck ... :-)