Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Learning how to machine quilt

Who knew that figuring out how to machine quilt would have a serious learning curve?  So now I have a headache.  My brain is exhausted.  It's hard to do this.  OK, I did 2 practice blocks yesterday, and today I started on a real quilt.  

Yesterday I got brave and started to play with quilting a pineapple block.  Boy did I learn a lot.  After 2 conversations with those poor folks at Style Fabrics about puckers (yes, that dreaded word.)  I lengthened my stitch to 3, used serious body strength to make sure that the sneaky little fabric was taut, and began from the inside out.  

Clearly puckers are not what I want.  I don't care too much if there are puckers on the wrong side as long as they are not humongous.  After all, I am not a Real Quilter.  Real Quilters care; I don't.  But puckers on the right side are another matter.  So today I gathered up my courage and started to sew.  I've now done 2 blocks out of 72, and the second one took me 20 minutes from marking the fabric through tying off the threads at the back.  Not too bad, I think.

If I were a drinking woman, I'd have a large glass of wine at this point.  This is not easy, but the second block was faster and better than the first.  And my friend is needle down.  Oh, how I love needle down.



3 comments:

Sarah said...

two suggestions that might even work for non-quilters:
1. spray baste your quilt sandwich with "505". As long as there are no puckers when you've sprayed it, there won't be any when it's time to quilt.
2. I use a "Halo" to help me quilt. It's a heavy metal rubberized ring that keeps the quilt area inside the ring taught so you don't have to worry about puckers. It was probably $20-25 but WELL worth it.
Good luck and keep at it!

Judy D in WA said...

Are you using your beautiful new Pfaff?
I have been quilting for years. Went from my domestic sewing machine to a stand up frame with a mid arm quilter and now I'm back to a domestic machine. I took a couple online classes at Craftsy and I am so glad I did. Pointers and tips I have never thought of. Most importantly for me is my attitude-I am not a perfectionist and done is better than perfect. :) Have fun with it. Can't wait to see more. I'll be your cheerleader. :)

Judy D in WA said...

PS: lengthen your stitches a couple clicks. To 3 or 3.5

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