The large 85"x103" CW repros quilt is off the frame. This particular one, I gotta say, gave me a run for my money. These blocks were done by many people in a local guild and were swapped. A couple individuals pooled their piles of blocks to make this quilt as a raffle for a guild show in 2 weeks. Yet another person did the sashing & borders as I understand it. You'd never know from the finished quilt what it started out like...
Despite measuring the top and backing when it was dropped off, I (naturally!) discovered after I loaded the back and top that the backing was too narrow. I refuse to quilt anything with 1-2" side clearances. That's not even enough room for the clamps, and initially I was contemplating a custom quilting. Last Friday, someone came and got the back, and a few hours later it was redelivered to me with 3" muslin strips added to the sides. This worked just fine, except for the time to reload 110" of back! Then I got this brilliant idea that I'd use
this thread (ok, so the link is not so descriptive...but I got a nice gold-toned trilobal poly thread as a part of a thread prize from MQX). Generally, I prefer the Superior threads hands down. They are reliable, predictable, and look good. But, I loved how this thread looked...
So I loaded it up and gave it a go. It's a variagated thread, so an 18 needle was used. Long story short, I am very close to tossing that thread in the trash. I quilted about 15" of my panto pattern and it thread-balled on the underside three times. I then picked it out, checked the bobbin and the top threadding and tried it again. It did the same thing. This is where it's nice to be in the basement studio because there was a significant amount of cursing to follow!
After I ripped that out, I immediately went and grabbed my best coordinating So Fine #406 and started sewing. Not a thread ball or thread break or even a mis-tensioned stitch. Thank you Superior. Where this is going in the guild's show, I really wanted to do a more custom quilting, but it's a rush job, and there just was not time. I hope it still looks good enough that I acquire a few clients! If they could have seen it before quilting, they'd be running with their quilts to see me...The borders and sashings had to have been stretched when they were sewn on. The seams puckered something awful, making some of the blocks pouf up like bra cups. I even had to hand sew one of the sashings down into a better position to avoid getting puckers. Live & learn. All's well that ends well. Nobody seeing or using the quilt really cares about it's path to completion, just that it looks good in the end! Right??!
And as promised, in between all the other things going on, I have pushed forward on these 15degree segments. Only 6 more to cut and sew. And then I'll need to start praying that they actually go together and lay flat!!
Happy sewing-
Despite measuring the top and backing when it was dropped off, I (naturally!) discovered after I loaded the back and top that the backing was too narrow. I refuse to quilt anything with 1-2" side clearances. That's not even enough room for the clamps, and initially I was contemplating a custom quilting. Last Friday, someone came and got the back, and a few hours later it was redelivered to me with 3" muslin strips added to the sides. This worked just fine, except for the time to reload 110" of back! Then I got this brilliant idea that I'd use this thread (ok, so the link is not so descriptive...but I got a nice gold-toned trilobal poly thread as a part of a thread prize from MQX). Generally, I prefer the Superior threads hands down. They are reliable, predictable, and look good. But, I loved how this thread looked...
So I loaded it up and gave it a go. It's a variagated thread, so an 18 needle was used. Long story short, I am very close to tossing that thread in the trash. I quilted about 15" of my panto pattern and it thread-balled on the underside three times. I then picked it out, checked the bobbin and the top threadding and tried it again. It did the same thing. This is where it's nice to be in the basement studio because there was a significant amount of cursing to follow!
After I ripped that out, I immediately went and grabbed my best coordinating So Fine #406 and started sewing. Not a thread ball or thread break or even a mis-tensioned stitch. Thank you Superior. Where this is going in the guild's show, I really wanted to do a more custom quilting, but it's a rush job, and there just was not time. I hope it still looks good enough that I acquire a few clients! If they could have seen it before quilting, they'd be running with their quilts to see me...The borders and sashings had to have been stretched when they were sewn on. The seams puckered something awful, making some of the blocks pouf up like bra cups. I even had to hand sew one of the sashings down into a better position to avoid getting puckers. Live & learn. All's well that ends well. Nobody seeing or using the quilt really cares about it's path to completion, just that it looks good in the end! Right??!
And as promised, in between all the other things going on, I have pushed forward on these 15degree segments. Only 6 more to cut and sew. And then I'll need to start praying that they actually go together and lay flat!!
Happy sewing-
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1 comment:
Wow - that 15 degree quilt looks like a fabulous challenge. Good for you for tackling that!
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