Progress - Mariner's Compass Medallion

Lately I've  been working on a very long term project. I am hand quilting what may very possibly be my last large bed quilt. I am determined to continue even though it got to 88 today in Phoenix and it has wool batting! I work in the early part of the day or in the evening. And of course, I skip some days.

When I finished my 'stint' today I threw it down on the floor to admire it - always fun to see progress - and noticed that the light was perfect for for a few shots that capture the quilting.

I didn't crop this photo so you can get an idea of the size of the project


After quilting 1/4" from seams on the Mariner's Compass I did concentric circles, gradually increasing outward over that whole section, including the Flying Geese. I started with single parallel lines in the blue setting corners but it just didn't seem to be enough - so I doubled them.

The cable shows nicely in this one. You can see I have it placed it over two plain borders.

Here is a section of the back. I wanted you to see how I am quilting the hourglass block border.
 It is the section with triangles next to the toile where the straight lines alternate directions.

Here's the front showing the hourglass blocks.

 I didn't want to just outline along the seams and this, though not very visible, does quilt the area down with a consistency I like. I like to do designs that ignore the piecing.

Simple X's in the checkerboard borders.

I begin to think about my possible quilting designs even as I am piecing the top but I don't mark the entire quilt or really make many decisions until I am ready to quilt. I sketch out ideas, start in the middle and frequently get new ideas as I work. 

I am keeping track of my time on this one, just for fun. I use a small spiral notebook...here's one page

Hours so far: 103