Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Progress on THE Big Quilt

This has been a busy few days away from the sewing machine.  But I am making progress assembling the queen quilt top:

From the beginning of this quilt adventure (a little more than one year ago), I have been fascinated by the challenges of the quilting stage.  From flowers on my first finished quilt
to wavy water on water lilies:
to Woodstock's flight pattern:
straight lines:
and all over squiggles!
I have to say I really do love working on the quilting!  Despite periodic hiccups by the sewing machine (or possibly the sewing machine operator??), wrestling the larger projects through the machine harp, and speed calibration issues (feet vs hands!) it has been great fun doing my own quilting.  But I have also learned that I need A LOT more practice!

I participated in one FMQ'ing class last year that used this book and covered the basics of batting, thread, needles with a little time on the machine.  Mostly, I have learned from all you quilters who so generously share tutorials and inspiration.  For example:


Angela Walters Free Motion Quilting book is my go-to right now for ideas.  My quilting experimentation continues with various combinations of sewing feet, thread, needles, patterns, etc.

To be honest, sometimes FMQ'ing can also be frustrating with thread breaks and poor tension.  So, I decided to take a free motion quilting class at the shop where I bought Helga, my Viking Sapphire to ensure I was using the machine correctly.
(Sorry for the light thread on light fabric!)  It turned out to be very useful to get advice on quilting on my machine from the folks who sell the brand.  So much fun!  Now only if I could do this on something larger than a fat quarter!

Having said all this, I still have every intention of deferring quilting the queen size quilt until I get more practice on smaller projects!  Wimp right out...yup I'll admit it.  That's me.

Have a great day!  Linking up with:

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

6 comments:

  1. I'm trying to hone my FMQ skills too. They make it look so simple don't they?

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  2. Hi Kathy--oooh--I have a Viking Sapphire, too. I am going to try to quilt my Ghastlies--a small piece to start on machining. Which foot do you use? Your quilt is soooo pretty; it is so hard to pull a big quilt through even just to bind it--never mind quilting the whole shebang!! Good luck Julierose

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  3. Sounds like you are doing a lot of practice already! Your quilting is amazing if you've only been doing it a year - you inspire me to keep going and try things outside of my normal stipple!

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  4. Don't think you have been wimping out at all, I know what you mean about the difficulty of co-ordinating feet and hands though!

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  5. Someday I will be brave enough to do FMQ, but your work inspires me! And I can't wait to see your latest quilt finished!!!! I'm loving the colors and pattern...

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  6. That queen quilt is going to be gorgeous! I love those colors, they remind me of sea glass (which I a *little* obsessed with). The second quilt I quilted was a (small) queen on a small throated machine. You have more experience than I did, so I'm sure you will do great! The center of the quilt is a little trickier on big quits, but you just take it a little at a time.

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How nice of you to take the time to comment!

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