Monday, April 2, 2012

Free Motion Quilting Project Update - an educational journey!

Doing the Hearts and Feathers Wholecloth Quilt with Leah Day has been interesting! I learned that quilting with white on light yellow is hard because I could not see the white thread - I need more contrast.  I know that I am now much better at quilting on a line. To quilt on a line, I now slow the speed down one notch on my machine and I use my forefinger to maintain a straight line. I really learned that last week.



I also learned that thread breaks when my hands and speed are not in sync. For micro-stippling, I now slow the machine down two notches. 
  • Day one:  I did the insides of four hearts in one corner - lots of problems. 
  • Day two: four hearts in another corner - problems. 
  • Day three: four hearts in a third corner - still problems. 
  • Day four:  all of a sudden I was in sync and everything worked. I did the fourth corner and all the rest of the micro-stippling! The thread did not break once! 


It took a while but I learned LOTS. Next I'll soak, block, trim, and bind this little beauty. It is truly a learning piece!

9 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness!!! It's gorgeous...Will look forward to see its completion. This journey has been amazing for me also. Machine and fabric control is the huge skill I feel I will take from this. So many future quilting projects will be so much easier and will flow so much better because of this time spent. We, ALL, have come such a long ways....a 'pat on the back for us all'! Hugs, D

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  2. Gorgeous! You're doing so well. I will probably never machine quilt, but it's interesting to follow along with you.

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  3. It looks great! I noticed the same thing with regards to the thread breaks, I had plenty at the beginning but by the end I was able to go through a whole bobbin without any breaks.

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  4. I did the same - white on yellow - and agree that it's hard to see what you're doing, especially for the stippling. I then did a second quilt, yellow on purple, and it was so much easier.

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  5. What thread were you using?

    I use Isacord for all my "art quilts", as Leah recommends, and I've never had a break.

    When I use cotton for bed quilts, I get breaks.

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  6. I completely agree that speed is everything! You did a fantastic job.

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  7. Gorgeous quilt! It can be frustraiting with thread breaks. I used Isacord too, and not one break!!

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  8. Looks wonderful. Interesting to read about how you had break-thru and at the end didn't have breaks. I am still at the breaking and shredding stage but just keep going.... : )

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