Quilting Progress - finally!

Two posts in one day after nothing for a couple of weeks. Oh my.

I've got my quilting problem sussed! After talking with my friend Elaine about my problem with the varigated rayon thread I want to use I tried using a topstitch needle which has a bigger eye. It is working just fine. Thread breaking problem solved. I also changed the direction I was quilting in. The quilting is meant to look as if it is spiralling inwards towards the centre as the words are read butI had been trying to quilt from the centre out (which is the normal thing for quilters to do). So I was quilting in an anti-clockwise direction which meant I needed to push the bulk of the quilt under the machine towards me as I sewed. By starting on the outside going in I am now going in a clockwise direction and pushing the bulk of the quilt away from me which is the natural way of sewing). So although it is "against the quilters' rules" to start on the outside and work inwards that is what I am doing. I think the cotton batting is making this easier because it 'grips' the quilt top and backing much more than the synthetic batting I normally use and so there is a lot less movement and hence no puckering. I might just be a convert to cotton batting Janice!