Crud Puppies!

It's inevitable, in my world, at least, that Murphy and his Law will wander across my day occasionally. Today, he waited until evening to make his appearance.

I am working on my Arrowheads quilt and quilting away. I quilt a few blocks and then baste a few more. Then I noticed my batting package, sitting empty. I go to throw it away and realize that this particular batting is different than any that I have used in the past. It is a thin cotton, like I prefer, but it is made to be quilted much closer than I have planned on this quilt. Oops!

I know it's a solvable dilemma with the batting, but I am not yet certain of the solution. I suppose it is what I get for using an older batting that I purchased years ago instead of purchasing exactly what I needed for this project. In my own defense, I didn't realize that it wasn't exactly what I needed. Sigh.

So, I am trudging along, trying to decide what I can do to increase the amount of quilting in each block without ruining the very simple, graphic lines that I like. Then, as I return to basting, I realize that I have 3 blocks remaining and no more glue sticks. Aaaagh! Here I am, on a roll, needing some meditative time at the sewing machine and can't baste further. This quilting arrangement is weighing on my mind and I can't find the best solution and now I can't complete the first stage of the quilting (which is all I had originally planned to do) so that I can decide what to do next. It's frustrating!

So, I can leave it alone and have the quilting lines way too far apart for the batting. I am leaning against this option because I want this quilt to be reasonably durable. Extra quilting will also reinforce large expanses of fabric.

I can meander in black and hope it doesn't detract from the decorative stitching lines.

I can do simple lines to echo the graphic lines in black or even in a tan to match the backing and some of the top fabrics.

I could meander in tan and try not to cross the black decorative lines. I have plenty of black and tan threads, but no clear nylon (and I have never used it before, so I don't know much about it's quirks).

I am sure there are myriad other options, but I can't think of any right now. Any thoughts? Bev? Are you out there???