Paisley Sunrise

After a week of little projects, it's back to the Big One-- or "Paisley Sunrise," as my friend named it. But it's time to baste. And guys, I hate basting. Hate. It. I've tried pins, I've tried stitching. Last time it took three days and I strained a back muscle (as well as the patience of the husband, who likes to use the floors too). But what I really hate (since you asked) is that it is impossible to ensure that the sandwich stays completely wrinkle-free and totally straight. Elusive perfection! [Shaking my fist at the quilting gods]

Since ol' Paisley is queen sized, I couldn't stomach the thought of traditional basting methods. Enter spray basting. All set to try 505, I bought Sulky KK 2000 at the last minute because it's more environmentally friendly.

And a good thing too. My grand plans to work on the patio were immediately foiled by the wind. Cursed wind!! (Setting myself up for some good quilt karma today, huh? Just wait.) Seconds after the above picture, my lovely quilt back was wrapped around a lawn chair, whimpering for mercy.

I dragged the whole mess beautiful pieces inside and took my time carefully laying out, spraying, and placing each layer. But, quilt friends, I flipped it over to check the backing smoothness and...well, see for yourself:

I surrender to the inevitable. It's probably wrinkly because I have to crawl over it to get at the center. But what else can you do? Okay, whining officially over! :o)

My quilting strategy is to do a machine/hand hybrid-- straight, machine quilted lines on the coin stacks, and Amish cables in the white "margins." Sort of a modern-meets-traditional type thing. I'm pretty excited about it.

I suppose I could have tried to fix the basting. But either I'm lazy or doubtful that it would do much good. Or I have a ton of faith in my walking foot and I'm really eager to overcome my perfectionism. Let's just forge ahead and keep our machingers crossed!