Hand Quilting Is So Satisfying

I spent the day quilting a corner of my feathered star project. This quilt only has one appliqued corner but there is a great deal of detail in the applique. If you go back to the April 12th entry you can see a photo of the applique. Today I worked on the lower right side of the corner, never moving my hoop. The grid doesn't take much time but there are so many berries, leaves, and vines that six hours of hand quilting were needed. Despite all my hand issues, what with all the surgeries, I do enjoy working closely on my hand quilting. I don't even like how machine quilting looks. It used to mimic hand quilting but now it has developed its own style, one that repels me. My husband saw a picture of a densely quilted machine product recently and said it looked like terry cloth to him. Anyone who objects should look at Anne Oliver's densely hand-quilted projects to see the difference.

  I have several different varieties of peony in my yard. Most have already opened to their full glory and dropped to the ground. This is the first of a group of late bloomers. Anyone else remember the tissue paper flowers we used to make in the 50's and 60's?