Monday, November 3, 2014

Machine quilting is finished!

Thanks to Judy of Gramma's quilting room for all her encouragement!  I did it! 

I finished machine quilting my friend's quilt.  I did semi circles on all the squares, and then stitch in the ditch along the edges of each block.


I marked the little semi circles with washable blue pens (I've done this many times with hand embroidery) and then wet them thoroughly with cold water to erase them.  In the process, I realized that I can now start to see crinkling.  The picture isn't the greatest because I just dumped the quilt onto the floor and didn't smooth it out at all.  

Here's the quilting from the backside.  I have no idea why it looks blue when it really is white with faint green circles.  The light, I suspect.  At any rate, you can see the quilting.  I don't like heavily quilted pieces; they feel board-like to me.  I want fluid and cuddly, so this should work very well.


Here's another view of the quilt.


So today's job is to buy fabric for the binding.  I'm thinking more blue and yellow, but I'll see.

Sophie, my lovely little machine, does this tie-off thingie where it reinforces the stitching at the beginning and end of each line, and then cuts the threads.  I think I've save hours of tying off and burying threads with this feature.  Yep, this is one wonderful machine.

So now I'm thinking that I'd like to start to learn free motion quilting.  This is not something I've ever been interested in, mostly because I thought it was totally beyond me.  But now I think it's possible.  I reserved some books at the library, and will make up some little quilt sandwiches and see what I can do.

6 comments:

Judy D in WA said...

Hooray! It looks fabulous. :) I'm so glad I could encourage you. Sometimes all we need is a cheerleader to keep us going.
Can't wait to see what you will do next.

Ramona said...

Your quilting looks great! Congrats on your finish!!

Rebecca Grace said...

Ooh, I love the way the quilting looks on the back side! Congratulations on finishing it up!

Jannette said...

If you aren't already familiar with Lori Kennedy's blog (The Inbox Jaunt), you should check her out - she does primarily free motion tutorials, ranging from simple to complex, and she gives step by step instructions and photos. I've learned a LOT from her, and recommend her often!
LOVE your quilt - and your quilting looks really good! Jannette

Suzanne said...

The quilting pattern just fits perfect!

Sarah said...

I think you're really going to love FMQ! I have a few fav designs and I'm also working to improve my feathers. I save the little quilting diagrams from magazines in a folder for inspiration. Lori Kennedy's blog is very inspiring and I love the DVDs by Patty Thomspon (some of which are avail at Joann's). Good luck. It takes practice but it's very fun to see what you can come up with.

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