This week I've been working on quilting a beautiful Civil War quilt for my friend Andrea from the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild. She knows I'm looking for practice, and told me she had "No quilting expectations." Rather than just doing an all-over pattern (which is tempting when you have limited quilting time!) I decided to take a little more time highlighting Andrea's work. I don't have pictures of the whole quilt yet, but it has a lot of 6" blocks, and a large medallion applique in the center. I'm doing orange peel quilting in the blocks. I'm wishing that I had some circular longarm rulers, and that the shape of my hopping foot allowed me to use them. It has a little part that sticks out at a funny angle and prevents the use of circles. I'm getting a new foot soon that I hope will work for ruler work.
I've wanted to practice orange peel quilting for a long time, but hadn't had a chance yet. My lines are a little wobbly--rulers will help a lot!
There is a narrow double border that I'm doing a spineless mini alternating feather in. These are also my first feathers on an actual quilt, and they are turning out very nicely so far. I know I've got plenty of practice in front of me before I do real feathers, but this is a good start, and I'm really pleased so far.
Apparently my machine doesn't like to sew straight diagonal lines, so Brad Paisley is helping me out in that department. =) Have I mentioned I need some rulers? The foot I have currently works adequately with rulers for some shapes, including straight lines at many angles.
I've spent about 6 hours on the quilting so far, and I'm only about half done. I'm really looking forward to my ability matching up with my ideas and the visions in my head, as well as being able to execute those ideas more quickly. I'm still pretty slow at this point when it comes to details. I was hoping to get this quilt done in time for our guild meeting on Thursday. It's still possible, but I don't think it is going to happen. I'm really glad that I get to work on this quilt, it has been fun and I've learned a couple of new things already.
Last week I finished quilting my Dresden Wave throw quilt for the EZ Dresden Challenge, but I still have to put the binding on it. I'm considering a hand-sewn binding this time. I am a perfectionist when it comes to hand sewing, and it takes me DAYS to hand bind a quilt. DAYS. But it looks amazing. Hmm, maybe I'll machine stitch it. I don't have days lying around, do you? I don't know. I think that might be something that I can successfully work on while my little guy is awake, but even then I don't know if it would work and let me get it done in time for the challenge. I need to make up my mind quick.
I'm linking up today at
TNT Thursday at Happy Quilting.
The quilt is turning out nicely. If you're short on budget, the VersaTool by HandiQuilter (Handi-Gadgets) by Susanne Michelle Hyland is really nice. It has a stitch in the ditch side, a 1/2 circle with radius arcs (that help with alignment) a 45' angle side and a long arc. These are great for going around applique shapes and doing orange peels. It sells for under $20.00 at the Cotton Shops. It's a great ruler for this type of custom work.
ReplyDeleteI've found with practice, you can get your machine speed up and a ruler isn't always necessary for orange peels. (However, I always use them on diagonal seams due to the wobble in my frame's diagonal passes.) If you use a quilt pounce pad and mark center registration lines, you can quilt arcs quickly and evenly. The first several quilts I always used a ruler....but after a couple of years your arcs will become second nature and you'll find they're not as necessary.
Love that Brad Paisley is helping you out. Way to be creative!!! Your quilting is really coming along!! I am so excited for you in this new adventure!
ReplyDeleteYay for Brad! If only he knew how helpful! Thanks for linking up.
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