Monday, October 05, 2015

Short Break for some Show Quilting

Today, I get back on my piles of client quilts, many of which are needed by the holidays.  A little glitch with my machine has been tended to so I won't have the same issues I had while quilting on this quilt shown here (the top roller was slipping making it like quilting a hammock - Hail to the glory of duct tape though!!).

This is the quilt I pieced in the spring and early summer.  It is my diversion...my distraction. Sometimes, I just need to mindlessly piece.  But after putting this top together, I have seen the error of my ways, and will probably go back to the less rigidly designed tops, as they have a greater ease to hide mistakes!  When a design is laden with lots of straight lines, it is very challenging to keep them all straight!  Curves are more forgiving, and a little easier to quilt.
 Never the less, I will trudge onward, hoping that this top will yield a good show quilt.  One never knows at this stage!  I see all kinds of issues, but will have to see what is coverable, or fixable or blockable once the quilting is finished.  I'll take another 2 weeks to hopefully almost complete this in December.
It may not be obvious to everyone what is incomplete, but there are some sizable holes of unquilted space.  Many of them.  It took longer than anticipated to get this far because there was a lot of thread changing -- clear Monolon, then a green Glide, and a gold Glide, then the red, then an aqua, REPEAT!  It gets very time-consuming.
The other challenge is that these fabrics, for the most part, are not solids.  They may read that way from 3 feet away, but most have a good bit of printing on them, making the visibility for quilting decreased.  Pretty to look at versus hard to quilt...the connundrum of quilting!
I have a big client quilt loaded today that is now calling, so have a good week!

9 comments:

Maggie said...

Wow, Margaret. Wow! Your talent is jaw dropping!!

Would you consider showing your quilting path for those graceful woven arches around the New York Beauty blocks? Please? I keep trying to find a path that'll finish as you go and just cant.

Thank you for sharing so much of your talent. You're truly an inspiration.

Maggir Hawk

Sewing Up A Storm said...

Stunning! I love your choice of designs especially the angled line fill in the center........now I am betting that is hard to execute and keep just right and regular.

Lynette said...

Amazing progress in the time you've spent on it so far! I can see this will have a spectacular edge, too. :)

Sala said...

Love the colors.

Valerie the Pumpkin Patch Quilter said...

I have said it already but it's worth repeating - the colorway on this quilt is wonderful! It's very different from what normally see from you so it is interesting to see where you go with it. Lovely! :)

QUILTeakes said...

What a spectacular quilt! Mindlessly pieced you say? My brain would hurt if I even attempted anything like this quilt. I look forward to seeing this beauty in the magazines and at Road 2 Calif. show when its finished!

Amy @ Amy's FMQ Adventures said...

LOL! I saw the first pic and thought, "That's a little simple for her" then I saw the ginormous seam ripper in the corner. But of course, the seam ripper was normal sized, which meant there's another jaw-dropper in the works! Scrolling down and I'm loving it!

Becky (My Fabric Obsession) said...

so amazing/inspiring as always! I hope this one turns out to be another show quilt for you!

Mary said...

This may just be my favorite of all your quilts to date. Love, love, love the color!!!