Headed toward the finish...

So, the "boring part", ie the quilting of the red umbrellas piece is finished and the end is in sight. After all the quilting was finished I had some details to add. First were the railings on the upstairs balconies, which you may not have even known were supposed to be there.

I used a heavy black thread to stitch the railings on those balconies. I marked the top rail and the places where the little round bumps happen in the spokes of the railing, so they would all line up more or less, then just started stitching, using my free-motion foot with the feed dogs down. Once those were done I headed down below to the chairs and using the same thick black thread, I added the legs and supports to the chairs.

I also added the table bases and the poles and finials for the umbrellas after the quilting was finished.

This afternoon I squared it all up and trimmed the piece. I started adding the facing and the sleeve. The next time you see this it will be finished.

************************
On a different note...

I was really concerned to read that Google Reader is being shut down. It has been my favorite way of keeping up with all the blogs I read. When I discovered their "next" button I knew I had found the perfect tool. It allowed me to read all my blogs, showing only the ones I had not yet read, and with "next" it took me directly to the actual blog, so I was seeing the whole design and all the comments. It was great. Now I am looking for a replacement. Feedly seems to be popular, so I am trying it out. Happily I could import all my blog links from Reader to Feedly with no problem. The interface is nice enough, but it is the kind that does not show the blog design, just the content. It also does not show comments and to leave a comment you have to click through to the blog itself. Little bit annoying. So, if you come across a great reader that allows you to see the blog as it really is, along with the comments, let me know.