Practice -

 

 

Can be fun - 

 

And a little less stressful - 

 

When I use a thread color that "almost" shows - 

 

In this case - I chose a GOLD thread - 

 

It's dark enough for me to see what I'm doing - 

 

But it doesn't show much - except on the BLUE - 

 

I tried Pebbles and Loops - 

 

 

Back and forth lines and swirls - 

 

Lazy-8s/Wishbones - 

 

Spirals - 

 

I even tried a feather - knowing that it won't show much - 

So I didn't stress too much about making it perfect - 

And it didn't come out half bad -

 

Today I stitched several passes from left to right -

 

And then right to left - and back again -

I re-hooped it once after setting it up yesterday -

 

Tomorrow I'll try to do more - 

 

And maybe finish up the center section - 

 

After I do my "chores" - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

Next up -

 

 

Is this one - 

 

I call it I Used To Be Placemats - 

 

Because they were - LOL -

 

 

 

The backing was a little short - 

 

So I used a striped fabric as a "poor man's" leader cloth - 

 

It's easy enough to cut along one of the stripes -

 

For a straight edge - 

 

Then line it up with the edge of the backing - 

 

And to pin on one of the stripes - 

 

They are all "built-in" straight lines - LOL - 

 

The stripes also help me clamp it onto the rail straight - 

I decided to quilt it with GOLD thread - 

 

And to turn it sideways - 

So that I can quilt the width of the placemats in the middle section in one pass - 

 

I'll re-hoop it as needed until I finish all three of them - 

And I'll save the ends for later - 

Because I can - LOL - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

Options -

 

 

It's always nice to have options - 

 

I have three quilts on the chair - 

 

Ready to be quilted - 

 

#1 - Bee Happy - 

 

It's a 36" x 44" panel -  and has been thread-basted -

I intended to do some Free-Motion quilting on my domestic machine - 

Before I got my new machine and frame - 

It would need to be re-hooped multiple times on this frame - 

And would probably be a better candidate for my new frame - 

So I think I'll "un-baste' it - and put it back in the "panel" drawer - 

To be quilted some other day when I get better at swirls and squiggly lines - 

 

#2 - Antique Squirrel - 

 

Roughly 72" x 90" - stitched-in-the-ditch - around each 6" block - 

Also intended for Free-Motion quilting on my domestic machine - 

Before I got my new machine and frame - 

 

It's really too big to push through the throat of my little machne - 

And it would need to be re-hooped multiple times on this frame - 

 

I think it would probably be a better candidate for my new frame - 

So I'll save this one to quilt after I'm more familiar with "loading" a quilt - 

This will be a "variation" since the layers are stitched together in spots - 

And it might work nicely with the front rail "clamp" system - we'll see - 

 

 

#3 - I Used To Be Placemats - 

 

About 42" x 44"- stitched-in-the-ditch -

In most (but not all) of the seam lines - 

 

I made eight placemats - but only one actually became one -

The other seven are in this quilt because I REALLY like the fabric combinations -

That's why I call it I Used To Be Placemats - LOL -

 

Anyway - 

 

I think this is the best one to quilt on my existing frame - 

Until I get the new one - 

It will need to be re-hooped multiple times - 

But the stitch-in-the-ditch lines have stabilized it - 

And whatever I don't get quilted by then -

Can always be finished on my domestic machine - 

 

Also - 

 

I want/need to get a quilt top ready to "load" on my new frame - 

And thought Simply Woven would be a good choice - 

It's about 60" x 60" - 

 

I need to make a backing - and some binding - 

And then decide what color of thread I want to use -  

And how I want to quilt it -

 

And there are LOTS of options - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Bound -

 

 

And DONE! - 

 

Ta Dah! - ;))

 

 

I used some of the striped backing fabric for the binding - 

 

With a BLACK flange - 

 

And added a satin label to the back - 

 

My camera thinks the RED on the left side is ORANGE - 

 

But it's not - LOL - 

 

The colors in the previous photos are more "true" - 

 

This is the first "real" quilt - with thick seams - 

 

That I quilted with my new machine and frame - 

 

Tomorrow I'll decide which one to quilt next - 

 

While I wait for my upgraded frame - 

 

I spoke to the dealer and we arranged an "exchange" - 

 

For the one that I wanted in the first place - 

 

But I didn't think I had enough room - 

 

I re-measured - and it might be a little tight - but it will fit - 

 

So now it's like I'm waiting for Christmas again - LOL - ;))

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Trimmed -

 

 

And ready to bind - 

 

Somehow the day slipped away from me - 

 

And that as far as I got - 

 

So the plan is to give it another try tomorrow - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Quilted -

 

 

The last corner this afternoon - 

 

 

It's not fancy - 

 

And it won't win any awards - 

 

But it's quilted!! - 

 

It still needs to be trimmed and bound - 

So that's the plan for tomorrow - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Some progress -

 

 

Once I decided what I was going to do - 

I quilted the top three rows - 

In alternating directions - 

 

I decided against diagonal rows - 

 

And just did back and forth horizontal and vertical lines - 

 

 

Then advanced the quilt and did the next three rows - 

 

 

 

The wavy lines worked well in the star blocks - 

 

 

But I lost my "pattern" as I went along - 

 

So I simplified some areas with fewer direction changes -

 

NOTE TO SELF - 

Don't get fancy with direction changes - 

You'll just confuse yourself - LOL - 

 

 

Anyway -

 

I only have six more rows to go - 

 

 

So I should be able to finish it up tomorrow - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

Decisions, decisions -

 

 

Well - I decided to use BLACK thread - 

 

Wound one bobbin - 

 

Threaded the machine - 

 

Made chalk lines on some of the squares -

For the direction of stitching - 

 

And stopped there - 

 

 

In the plain squares and the black/white flying geese units -

I was thinking of doing diagonal lines back and forth -

Changing direction in each square and in each half of the flying geese - 

To go the opposite direction of the "wing" seam - 

  

The center portion of the quilt is really dense patchwork - 

And the quilting won't show -

So I thought I should do something simple like wavy lines - 

Across the stars and the flying geese and blue string blocks - 

 

Only the outer two rows of plain blocks - 

And the black/white flying geese units will show the quilting -

The red flying geese are string blocks - 

So they won't show either -

 

Also - it will be my first "non-panel" quilt with thick seams -

So I don't want to try something fancy that will blow up in my face - 

Not that I can DO fancy yet -

But you know what I mean - LOL -

 

What do you think? - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Next up -

 

 

Is this one - 

 

 

It's already "stitched in the ditch" - 

And should be easy enough to quilt on my frame -

 

In "zones" - 

 

My frame is called a Q-Zone Hoop Frame - 

 

And is very similar to the white PVC pipe "hand quilting" frame - 

 

The back rail is NOT a roll-up type - 

 

The fabric is clamped on - 

 

And the bulk of the quilt is rolled up behind the rail - 

 

And held out of the way with a series of bungee cord clips -

 

 

"They" recommend that you quilt the left side of the first "zone" - 

Slide the quilt over and "re-hoop" it to quilt the next "zone" to the right -

Then "re-hoop" the next section down and repeat the process -

 

Leader cloths are used if the backing is "short" - 

 

And - since this is all I have extra on the top - 

 

By the time it's clamped on - 

 

I can't quilt that top row - 

 

I have the leader cloths that came with the frame - 

but I haven't opened the package - 

because I'll give them back when I upgrade the frame - 

 

So - instead -  I pinned a 1/4 yard strip of striped fabric to the top - 

Poor man's version of a leader cloth - LOL -

 

That was enough extra fabric to give me access to that top row - 

 

And I can reach to the middle of the 4th square down - 

 

So I can quilt the top three rows easily - 

 

And I can comfortably quilt 10 of the 16 squares across the width of the quilt - 

 

Because I can reach all the way to here - 

 

Before I run into the side rail - 

 

So - 

 

Now that I know what area I can quilt - 

 

Before I have to slide it over for the next "zone" - 

 

I have to decide how I want to quilt it - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Bound -

 

 

My daughter chose a NAVY floral for the binding - 

 

For my Red/White/Blue Panel - 

 

 

So I made the binding - 

 

And sewed it on - 

 

I also attached one of my satin labels - 

 

And now Echo has a new blanket for the car - 

 

She doesn't care that Grandma's stitches are wonky - 

 

She just wants something to sleep on - 

 

So she doesn't get her Mom's car dirty - LOL - 

 

 

I was looking through the stack "to be quilted" - 

 

And I have several that have been "stitched-in-the-ditch" - 

 

In preparation for Free-Motion quilting on my domestic machine - 

 

They are all good candidates for this frame - 

 

So I might play with this one next - 

 

It's 48" x 48" - 

 

I should be able to quilt just past the center BLACK Flying Geese unit - 

 

Before I have to re-hoop it to get to the other side - 

 

And don't worry about the lump in the top left corner - 

 

It's sitting on top of the leg of the frame - 

Now I need to decide what I want to quilt where - 

Something that won't show where I stop and start - 

And what color of thread I want to use - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -