Friday, October 11, 2013

Walking foot quilting again

I am determined to whittle down the list of flimsies waiting to be quilted.  I know my pile isn’t as high as some others’, but I really start to spin my wheels and be very unproductive when I have too many unfinished projects in my sewing nook.  I just don’t know where to start and feel guilty working on new ideas.

IMG_6779So, in the last couple of weeks I pieced a quilt back and basted and started machine quilting last fall’s autumn themed quilt. (Last fall’s flimsy.  Do you see the inertia a project acquires once it becomes a complete but unquilted top?)

This one measures about 48” x 60”, not a bad size to manage on my machine.  These days I am drawn to the crispness of straight lines so Walking Foot and I are continuing to work on our partnership.  We’re stretching a bit to include arcs.  I know the accepted wisdom is to use free-motion quilting for curves, but I know my current free-motion limits!  I want crisp arcs in those circles, and my free motion skills won’t give me those so I’m turning the fabric under the walking foot.  I don’t know that I would do it if this was a larger quilt to wrestle with, but it’s working well enough for this one.

IMG_6773

IMG_6774

So far I have quilted all the straight lines in the background as well as quilted in the ditch around the maple leaves and circles.  It doesn’t show up well in this picture but each quarter of the circle has a different set of concentric curves quilted in it.  There are only 33 more quarter circles to go!  And the border… 

I am enjoying the luxury of leaving this project out and working on it a little bit at a time as I feel like it  With my new-to-me work table, I don’t feel the urgency to get it done quickly to unclutter the dining area upstairs like I did when I had to do the quilting on the kitchen table.  I wonder if feeling like I needed to clear a long uninterrupted stretch of days to get a quilt quilted in one big push contributed to  me dragging my feet about getting around to the actual quilting?

7 comments:

  1. Your quilt pattern and fabrics are beautiful, and your quilting design is absolutely perfect for it! I too need to be quilting some older tops, but instead, I have two new smaller projects going, wouldn't you know? Oh well...........! ---"Love"

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  2. Love both of your quilts. Your quilting looks great. I too always wish I could finish one project; before I start a new one. I am getting my sewing space ready for me to try and start quilting some of my quilt tops too. They are piling up. I really like how you chose to quilt the circles and straight lines.

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  3. Looks good and it will feel better to have it finished. Little by little you'll get it done. Lovely colours too.

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  4. If you can quilt arcs that well with a walking foot, why mess with the free motion? They look great and I love how each piece has different arcs. Before you know it, the quilting will be done and you'll have a quilt to snuggle under while binding on a cool fall evening!

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  5. It makes such a difference to hae a space like this that can be set up and stay set up - it sounds like you are really enjoying your find! Love what you are doing on your autumn quilt with your Walking Foot. I'm impressed with those curves :-)

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  6. I love it! And yes, it does make a huge difference to be able to keep your project on the table. You can sit down for a couple hours or even just squeeze in 10 minutes of sewing between other chores and before you know it, your project is finished!

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  7. This is beautiful! I was just looked at ( and then ended up buying, with a coupon ) a book with a round pattern similar to this and as to the quilting I prefer this..looks very traditional versus the doodle sort of quilting that I often see with machine quilting. That works fine with some quilts but I think what you are doing here is best for these blocks...

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