Saturday, February 18, 2012

Some quilting and stuff

Welll you know that when I'm too busy to blog, it's because I've been really busy quilting!  Trying to get myself caught up . . . getting a little closer!  I got this quilt finished yesterday.  It was really fun to quilt ... my favorite little motion now is a free motion swirl with a loop here and there.  It makes for really dense quilting, but I think it looks wonderful on quilts with a lot going on.  It just gives some nice texture.

This quilt measured about 70" x 90".   I was a little worried about the backing because it was a woven, and not very heavy.  It loaded wonderfully and quilted with no problems.  I used Glide thread in the top and Magna-Glide prewounds in the bobbin.  I love the prewounds ... it sure does make it simple to just pop a bobbin in without having to wind them; they do have more on them then I can fit when I wind a bobbin, and I get better tension when using them.
Wovens are notorious for stretching, and I was a little concerned about this.  I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to start pressing the backs that go on the frame.  I know it takes a little bit of my time, but it's worth how easy it makes them to load.  Previously I would just take the back and smooth it out, measure it to make sure there was enough there, pin it on, then load most of it to the take-up pole, rolling it on, then rolling it back onto the top pole, and then again back onto the take-up pole.  I still roll it back and forth a couple of times, the pressing just seems to help work out any unevenness there is. 

One of my favorite features on my Innova is the ability to lift the top pole and get at the batting.  I don't know how many machines have this feature (if any others do), but it is wonderful.  Every time I roll before I stitch the sides down, I lift the rail and smooth and straighten the batting out.

I came up with a great idea the other day and I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner!  When I was at quilt market last year with the Country Loft, we got these lanyards that were being passed out from Anthology.  I saw it in my sewing room the other day, and thought it would make a great catch all to wear around my neck when I'm quilting.  In the front pocket I keep a little pair of scissors and a small screwdriver ...

In the back pocket I can keep my cell phone.  Now I don't have to have pockets to keep all this stuff in, or always misplace my scissors because I put them somewhere and can't find them!

Tomorrow my goal is to load and quilt another quilt.  If I can get this other one done tomorrow, I'll be back on track!  I'll leave you with a few more pictures of this beautiful quilt that I had the pleasure of doing for my friend ... have a happy rest of your weekend!

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