This weekend was my birthday, and Mike's too, so Brendan and his girlfriend Michele, and Joel and his fiancee Becca came to visit. It was great as always to have them here. On Saturday I pressed Michele and Becca (the bride-to-be wearing the red jacket) into service basting the chuppah cover onto a harem cloth backing. It was delightful to have their help, which made a tedious process go much faster and more pleasantly than it would have otherwise. It reminded me of stories about women gathering to baste and quilt and talk, so I felt connected both in the present and through the generations. Thank you Michele and Becca! (Pictures by Brendan sorry, Joel.)
Adding the backing cloth is new for me. I am hoping it will stabilize the shape of the cloth and will help keep the coming embroidery from puckering. This every-four-inch removable stitching seemed necessary to keep the two large lengths of fabric from sliding about. I thumbtacked them both to the bare plywood surface of my table and found that it was easy to rock the needle and make a basting stitch, while keeping them in place. It was not easy to do Jude's disappearing glue stitch this way. This preliminary baste will allow me to do the invisible glue stitch in my lap with both hands if I want to, but I am worried about time. I expected to be on the embroidery by now and I have a lot to do. I am also worried about the expanses of cloth that may not have any stitching in the end, after this basting is removed. So...will there be glue stitching or not?