Wedding Gown Quilt Progress

This morning I was able to get the final work done to attach the hankies to the silk gown base. Under the silk I placed the Dream Orient batting, but no backing. It was the only way I could see to get the hankies stabilized onto the quilt top without showing the stitching on the backing.

Here is how it looked during this part of the process- I spaced them out in approximate position and pinned just so I had an idea how it would work out but then I really had to "float" the quilt, there was no way to roll this onto the bottom roller!  As I completed each row though I could then roll it up and position the next section with proper placement.

Quilter's Dream orient batting stood up well to the test, I really had no issues stitching without the backing and I am very happy that I did it that way, now only the edge to edge quilting design will show on the back of the finished quilt.

A couple of videos showing the process. This video shows how I had to "float" the top with the batting, leaving it a whole lot looser and less stable than I am comfortable with, but I couldn't think of a better way to do it. Once I got to the final couple of feet I did attach the bottom edge of the batting to the bottom leader. 

Close up of one of the attached hankies.

I then removed the project from the longarm machine and re-loaded with the backing and it's cryptic label!

This is the backing fabric Andrea chose, and I think it will probably be the binding also.

Now everything is back on the machine ready for the final quilting, I am just awaiting approval of the quilting design from Andrea. Her time zone is 15 hours different so we are not always up and around at the same time!
Onto the final phase before binding and I am feeling good about it now that most of the new challenges seem to be behind me!