Stitching the pieces together
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I just finished another quilt. I have all my projects finished. Now will have to look for something new to do.
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Beautiful Jo, my kinda colors!
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You can't see it in the pink and I could not get a good close up but it has the words hope, faith, love on it. I bought the pink last year in October during Breast Cancer Awareness month.
This is another one of those 5 yard quilts. I did use a 6th color on the border as I ran out of the dark purple around the squares.
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Thats so beautiful JO.
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Thanks Eph & Paula.
Quilting for the past 10 months has been my therapy and a way for me to get through this BC journey.
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Gorgeous Jo!!! Love the colors!
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Well done sister!!! You are SO inspiring!!!
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Love doing this 5 yard quilt. It is really fast & easy. Now I need to try and teach myself how to machine quilt. I do love hand quilting but the fingers are starting to give me problems. They get stiff - I just chalk that up to old age.
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To start machine quilting, make sure you have the best quilting foot you can afford. It helps move the thicker fabric along at an even pace. Otherwise you get a big bump at the end of the part that didn't catch up!! Try just following your block outline; either right on your seam line, or a 1/4 inch outside. Nice and easy to do. You'll get used to maneuvering the large chunks of fabric (roll them up) around your sewing foot. Good luck! (Practice on old squares)
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Barbe, I have a walking foot and that works well. I don't get any movement of fabric as in puckering or bumpy bits at the end of a row. What I want to learn to do is the free style machine quilting but so far on practice pieces I just don't get the flow going. I guess practice, practice makes perfect and I just need to practice more.....lol
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Quilting/walking foot are the same thing, so you're all ready Chrissy. For free motion quilting, do you have a free-motion foot? Drop the feed dogs on your machine, put on some music and move the fabric to the music. Swing circles and arcs and try to keep the stitches the same length. If you go too slowly then the stitiches will be close enough to act like a serrated line and rip!!
The trick is to be calm, move quicker than you think you would and BREATHE!! When I used to teach the class, I'd call out BREATHE!! and you'd hear everyong gasp!!! Too funny!! We tend to hold our breaths while we are concentrating but our stitches get tighter together that way!
If you have a fabric with a wide open pattern, use a piece as a practice run with batting and backing. Try to follow the free-form pattern. It will come all of a sudden. The penny will drop and you'll wonder why you couldn't do it before. I remember the exact second about 10 years ago when I "got it".
I can now 'paint' with thread as you saw with my bird wall hanging.
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I also need to practice with the free style quilting. I actually experimented with quilting on the seam line and really like it.
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I've done the quilting on the seam line, stitch in the ditch, for ages and I have never had a hassle with that but the free form, well.............I think I do what you said Barbe and hold my breath as I find the stitches are way too small and close together.......I'll just keep practising til I get it right.......I am nothing if not patient......lol
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You have to move a bit faster than you think you do because the sewing machine stitches a lot faster than you realize!
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I think I'll try adjusting the machine spead to a slower one and go from there.
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barbe - I have a real good walking foot I use for just about everything. When I sew my binding on, that is what I use that way I don't get the puckering or bumps at the end. Can I do this on a regular sewing machine or do I need to invest in a long arm machine?
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That's a good idea Chrissy. Biggest thing is to remember to drop the feed dogs! A lot of people forget that one thing and it makes all the difference.
Jo, you are very wise to use your walking foot for your binding! I used to be too lazy to switch feet,but it makes all the difference, doesn't it?
You won't need a long arm machine. I've done a huge wall quilt (3'x4' or more) in a JemGold which is a very tiny machine. A regular machine could do a Queen size easy. you will learn how to roll the area you are working on. You never, ever turn the fabric when you free motion, so once it is rolled and shoved into the gap of the arm, you will be able to complete that whole area before you have to shift your quilt again. You only roll the side that's into the machine, leave the other side hanging. Put an ironing board there to take up weight if need be. Turn the quilt over to do the opposite side.
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Barbe - I have a regular Brother sewing machine. The walking foot I have was the best $50.00 I ever spent. Any machine quilting I would be interested in doing at this point would be stitch in the ditch or making Xs or Xs with horizontal/vertical lines through them. Is this possible? Good tip on using an ironing board for the extra weight. I have a table sized one or better yet, I had an extension table made for mine out of acrylic - that has been wonderful to use.
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Another idea is to practice without thread in the needle! You'll be able to see where your stitches went, but you can use the sample over and over. Have fun with it.
BREATHE!!!!
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barbe - You have so many wonderful tips - have you ever thought of putting them all done in a book or on a DVD?
I willl try it without thread in the needle.
Thanks again
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My first free motion quilt project I actually took a water erasable marking pen and drew the lines I wanted to quilt on the fabric and followed the lines
that way I knew where I wanted to go and for me it was easier. After I was finished I sprayed the whole thing down with my bottle of water to erase the marking.Sheila
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Anyone up for sending extra sewing supplies into the tornado towns whenever we find a good place to send them too. I know I have supplies that could certainly help someone get going again. I don't have an extra sewing machine now but I do have fabric and supplies. MAybe making up restarted kits of supplies.
Just a thought in case anyone is connected in those areas. Me, I work for a mission in Haiti so our needs are a bit different.
Hugs Ginger
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That is a nice idea. It is one thing to receive a quilt when you have been through adversity, but if you are a quilter, how therapeutic it would be to get supplies to do your own project. We all know how we can get lost in our projects and forget the world.
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I just added 4 photos to my quilt album on FB with the 4 new quilts I finished for Robin's Nest. I took them last night at the quilt guild room on the design wall. I didn't keep close count, but I am thinking I pieced about 15 quilts for the Robin's Nest project. They hope to be in the new facilities by August.
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Sheila, the easiest pics to post are from FB pages. You can just right click/copy then come over here and right click/paste them right into the comment box. Post here!!
When I taught free-motion I would start every with paper. We'd use a colouring book picture and try to follow the line. You can put the paper over batting to work up the thickiness issue, but people got used to moving the 'fabric' quicker when it was just paper. As soon as they put fabric under the needle they choked up and slowed down. Practice, practice!!
BREATHE
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I am using Google Chrome and when I right click on the picture, I don't get the copy function on the pop-up menu.
My 7th grade Home Economics teacher started us stitching lines on paper, but I had been sewing about 5 years by that time so I was bored stupid while she had us practicing sewing on paper. Although my sewing at home was using a treadle machine and at school we were on electric machines.
Sheila
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I'm talking free motion quilting though Sheila, do you do that? I remember the stupid lines on the paper too!! I sometimes used lined paper in the free motion class to show women that they can sew a seam just as easily free motion. Once I've dropped my feed dogs, I'll leave them down for ages and whip up a seam or two free motion.
Remember!! You NEVER turn the fabric while free motion sewing!! You steer with your hands! In fact, there is this really neat steering wheel gadget that you can use to keep your fabric taught and it reminds you to keep your fabric straight.
BREATHE!!
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I have free motioned one baby quilt on my new machine and am planning on doing another this week for a baby shower next week. I have done 'free motion' on my mom's treadle machine when my son was little, but it wasn't true free motion. I just have to BREATHE and pre-draw my lines on the fabric so I know where I want to go.
sheila
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Another trick...!! Use a patterned backing fabric. Put the desired top colour in the bobbin and quilt on the back, following the pattern of the fabric. Everyone will think you're SO clever!!
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barbe - You are soooo smart. That would definitely work. I may have to try that on a small project.
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