Signing Off The Dragon AND Sedona

What timing.... The quilting of the Sea Dragon and my time in Sedona are coming to an end simultaneously. The SUV is loaded but for my Camera, laptop and personal items so before I sign off for the trip home, I'll sign off on the quilting. I free motion sign my quilts somewhere on the quilt that is not intrusive to the overall image. I used to consistently sign in the bottom right corner as that's my experience with traditional paintings. BUT.. for a quilt that is headed for a judging floor, putting a piece of signature covering tape or fabric right in the face of judges seems offensive to me, so this sign off is going on the vertical side of the left margin.

First I lightly mark the upper, middle, bottom line with chalk... this is to keep my signature straight. These lines can be erased
later. (In case you are puzzled by seeing some bright blue fabric just off the edge of the quilt.. it is future facing to be turned to the back side. I'll cover that process again later .)

I tend to use a 40 wt poly thread with which to sign. I'll say upfront that first I sign forward.. then backward retracing my forward steps. You'll see why and the difference between 1 line versus two. (Already, you might be saying why doesn't she just use a heavier thread? Bottom line, it's easier for me anyway to get the lines properly spaced with a thinner thread AND I can if needed make minor corrections when backstitch quilting) The first name is finished below exactly where I began.

Here, I'm coming back on the last name. I suspect you can see a big difference between the finished first name and the skinny beginning of the last name. (I apologize for the bright machine lights diminishing the color values here.)

Finally, erase those lines and you're done.

Thanks for taking this journey with me. For now, one more cup of hazelnut coffee for me and I'm heading home to California.