Once again, I've been thinking hard about Sedona Star this weekend. There's been a heck of a lot of thinking considering I haven't done any sewing yet!
The whole kerfuffle with the way the templates don't print properly on some printers, including mine, has somewhat got my back up. I had to ask myself if I should do the quilt at all. I wanted the quilt to be a stretch for me, but chasing down technical fixes wasn't exactly what I had in mind! I've only bought about a third of the fabric so far, which could always be used somewhere else. But the thought of not doing the quilt felt like going backwards, so I knew I still had to do it. Quilters are resourceful, right? My drafting skills are pretty good, and I think I will be able to draw in the parts of the templates that don't print.
So, I'll be doing the whole thing by machine. I'll use the Ricky Tims Stable Stuff, and leave it in the quilt until the end. I'll use Beth Ferrier's method of turned edge applique by machine, and use her fusible wash-away applique sheets, which should also help stabilize the lightweight shot cottons. I can see the whole thing will be much quicker this way, and even though fast is not always a priority for me, it will give me more time for other projects as well, which also feels good.
Of course, the Stable Stuff and the applique sheets will have to be bought, which will have to wait until February. But, that gives me three weeks to work on my other quilts, which I think will be a very good thing!
Serious fun with quilting, stitching, and embroidery
Monday, January 23, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Another Change of Plans
Yesterday I was sitting and looking at Edward's quilt, which I had laid out with its border options, and thinking about my plans for quilting it. I've gone through several different plans over the year that it's been a UFO. Most of them involved some basic free-motion quilting. Recently though, I decided to back it with a flannel sheet so it would be warmer and hopefully more practical in their cold basement where they watch tv.
The flannel sheet, though, will make the quilt sandwich much bulkier, and I doubted my ability to free motion quilt it in my old machine with it's 7" throat. I decided to use the walking foot instead and quilt it in diamonds, which is a slightly industrial look that I quite like. Looking at the top, I felt pretty confident about fitting it in my machine.
But then I started to think about Sedona Star, which is projected to be 88" square. I really want some fairly elaborate machine quilting on it, I think it just calls for beautiful swirls and feathers. I was prepared to do the practice needed to bring my skills up to par, but looking at my machine today I think I will be expecting too much. A small quilt, sure, but not 88".
So, I have folded and decided to send it out for quilting when it's done. There is a really good long arm quilter whose work I've seen in shows west of the city. I will have to look into how much it might cost for her to really take her time and do a nice job.
This also means that putting myself in knots about doing the applique by hand is no longer necessary. I guess I will be reconsidering my approach this weekend!
The flannel sheet, though, will make the quilt sandwich much bulkier, and I doubted my ability to free motion quilt it in my old machine with it's 7" throat. I decided to use the walking foot instead and quilt it in diamonds, which is a slightly industrial look that I quite like. Looking at the top, I felt pretty confident about fitting it in my machine.
But then I started to think about Sedona Star, which is projected to be 88" square. I really want some fairly elaborate machine quilting on it, I think it just calls for beautiful swirls and feathers. I was prepared to do the practice needed to bring my skills up to par, but looking at my machine today I think I will be expecting too much. A small quilt, sure, but not 88".
So, I have folded and decided to send it out for quilting when it's done. There is a really good long arm quilter whose work I've seen in shows west of the city. I will have to look into how much it might cost for her to really take her time and do a nice job.
This also means that putting myself in knots about doing the applique by hand is no longer necessary. I guess I will be reconsidering my approach this weekend!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Auditioning Borders for Edward's Quilt
Two days ago I realized that I really, really want to finish something before I start Sedona Star. I think I have enough balls in the air! Edward's quilt was the closest to completion, so I've been making a big push on it.
The last time I had it out I was really stressed with it. The seams wouldn't line up, and I had to unpick a couple of times, which I hate. I literally had to shake off the tension every time I sewed a seam. It was nuts.
Since then though, I've been working on my nine patches, which have been going together so well, and they must have totally shifted my vibe. When I went back to Edward's quilt the problems had vanished. A friend of mine always says "a rising tide raises all boats." I think those nine patches have been worth gold to me!
So today I finished joining the centre blocks and started to think about the border. I'd already decided not to use my inspiration fabric because the wine-coloured circles will clash too much. I decided to use this batik with the large white kanji instead:
When I first laid it out it was so busy that it made me a little nauseous! It looks better with the red binding fabric over the edge, but I think it is still too much. Fortunately, I found a yard of this quieter fabric in my box too:
I think that will be much better. I also fiddled around with the red cornerstones. There are four different reds in the quilt, and I thought about putting one in each corner. But I definitely want to bind it in the red you see here, and I thought the red fabrics might clash more when they are right beside each other rather than scattered around the quilt. I did think that putting just this one fabric in all four corners would be nice:
This fabric has the characters for "peace" and "good fortune" and similar good wishes, which I thought would be a nice sentiment. I am still on the fence, because the two reds are a little off, although they are closer than they look in the photo once again. I do kind of think that the second option, where the corners and the binding all match, might be too perfect, if you know what I mean. We will see how it goes tomorrow. My plan is to have the top finished before I start my Sabbath at 6 pm!
The last time I had it out I was really stressed with it. The seams wouldn't line up, and I had to unpick a couple of times, which I hate. I literally had to shake off the tension every time I sewed a seam. It was nuts.
Since then though, I've been working on my nine patches, which have been going together so well, and they must have totally shifted my vibe. When I went back to Edward's quilt the problems had vanished. A friend of mine always says "a rising tide raises all boats." I think those nine patches have been worth gold to me!
So today I finished joining the centre blocks and started to think about the border. I'd already decided not to use my inspiration fabric because the wine-coloured circles will clash too much. I decided to use this batik with the large white kanji instead:
When I first laid it out it was so busy that it made me a little nauseous! It looks better with the red binding fabric over the edge, but I think it is still too much. Fortunately, I found a yard of this quieter fabric in my box too:
I think that will be much better. I also fiddled around with the red cornerstones. There are four different reds in the quilt, and I thought about putting one in each corner. But I definitely want to bind it in the red you see here, and I thought the red fabrics might clash more when they are right beside each other rather than scattered around the quilt. I did think that putting just this one fabric in all four corners would be nice:
This fabric has the characters for "peace" and "good fortune" and similar good wishes, which I thought would be a nice sentiment. I am still on the fence, because the two reds are a little off, although they are closer than they look in the photo once again. I do kind of think that the second option, where the corners and the binding all match, might be too perfect, if you know what I mean. We will see how it goes tomorrow. My plan is to have the top finished before I start my Sabbath at 6 pm!
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