Untitled in Raisin

It's unclear to me why, but I do not have a positive inclination towards monofilament thread. I used it years ago, but I don't believe (ever) for machine quilting. It just wasn't done. Until I saw the stunning work of Jill/Pie Lady Quilts, who uses it often so as not to 'alter any of the color work' in her quilts Let's just say it was seeing Jill use it to such great effect that I thought I might give it a try.



So the project that finally seemed right to try it on was the small half-square triangle quilt I started in Season Evans' Two-Color Quilt Composition class a few weeks ago. After first going to Instagram to see what advice I could garner, it dawned on me that it might also be wise to check the website of the specific thread I planned on using, which just happened to be Aurifil. And they actually had some suggestions as to needle size, thread in bobbin, etc. Luckily all the tips were fairly consistent, and here are the adjustments I made:

• Used regular 50wt in the bobbin [if you choose to use monofilament in the bobbin, wind it very slowly to prevent stretching]
• Reduced top tension slightly 
• Increased the stitch length to 3.5
• Used a top-stitching needle, which has a larger eye

Of course your machine may handle it differently, so adjust accordingly.



At any rate, my experiment with monofilament went really well. On another project, I may have chosen to quilt more densely, but the half-square triangles on this 34" square quilt just didn't seem to call for it.

For backing, I had found a perfect match in a stashed Lotta Jansdotter print. And as far as match goes, if you've never seen Kona Raisin, which is the color of my HSTs in this little quilt, it's a rich dark purple.... and as you'll catch a peek in some of my photos - exactly the color of the doors of our home. How's that for random?{grin}

About Quilting

A quilting panel discussion was arranged for our Seattle MQG meeting last night, which was really interesting. Four of us shared a variety of info about our personal quilting routines. I was the only one that primarily uses a domestic machine, Matt/@odditease has a mid-arm, and Dionne/@dinglebobbins and Pam/@pamjcole quilt on long-arms. I wish I had notes of all they shared, as there was alot of good information, but no. So here's what I shared [in brackets], including some photos.

1) What machine do you use for your quilting? [Juki TL-2010Q]

2) What thread do you prefer? [Aurifil 50wt all the way]

3) Favorite marking method. [Hera marker (The others all answered after me and said, 'as little as possible." I didn't think of that, but that's true for me too. Also, I often use the edge of my walking foot as a guide. But if I do mark, it's with the hera.)]

4) What is your go-to quilting design? [The majority of my quilting is some kind of straight-line done with my walking foot.] Examples:

Matchstick quilting

Wavy straight-line

Zig-zag

Ghost-quilting

5) How do you prepare quilts for quilting/basing method? [505 basting spray]

6) Most terrifying quilting moment/a make it work quilting moment. [Big quilts cause me the most grief - and quilting in the middle of them and trying to handle the bulk.]

7) Perfectly consistent stitch length, does it matter to you? [Yes, I definitely prefer it! Am I obsessive about it? No.]

8) Tips, tricks, and suggestions? [I'm pretty committed to setting myself up for success by changing the needle, cleaning and oiling my machine, and winding a few bobbins before I get started quilting a new quilt.]

9) Work you are most proud of and why. [Basically, I enjoy exploring new designs and trying something that I think really accentuates the quilt's design.] Examples:

Fancy straight-line

Diagonal orange peel

Miscellaneous straight-line

So that's that. It's always good to hear what others do, and since I was the only domestic machine user, it was especially interesting to hear about some of the differences from my fellow members. I really enjoyed seeing the work each person was proud of too! If you'd like to share a quilted project you're especially proud of, leave a link in the comments!

From Whence Inspiration Comes

When I revealed my "Still Swooning" mini last week, there were many comments on the quilting.

The thing is, the quilting was easy-peasy, and as I mentioned then, it was all inspired by this little corner-post.

I find when I think about the quilting for any of my projects, I look first at the project itself to see if it can inspire me. And this one certainly did. Just for fun, I thought I'd share my process on this mini - just to show you how simple it can really be!

This 3x18" ruler and my hera marker were all the tools I needed. I laid my ruler down and marked a line around the ruler as shown.

Then I slid the ruler down to extend that one long line on the right side of the 'U'.

As you can see, I echo-quilted within the 'U', and along the left-hand sides of my original markings, which resulted in a fun zig-zag pattern that filled the left side of the quilt. I liked that so much, I reset my ruler to the right, off-setting it a bit from the original, and marked again.

I filled in the second "U" and then went for a third, this time sliding my ruler up a bit to offset this "U" from the other 2. From there, I just filled in the third "U" and then echo-stitched to the right, to fill in the rest of the quilt with more zig-zag.

See how easy that was? Not too taxing, but something fun and unique for this particular project.

I'm kind of fond of how your eye dances around the movement caused by the quilting. 

So tell me - what inspires you when it comes to quilting designs - ? Inquiring minds want to know.

What IS it?

Dear friends, there's a little "issue" I need your help with.

I assume you remember "Fissures"? Well I love this quilt and I am proud of it, yes I am.

But there's a little issue about the quilting. Not all of it, mind you. But now and then I got ripples, and I don't exactly know why.

I tried switching directions when I stitched, and I tried stitching from the same direction. It didn't seem to matter. The photo above shows the worst section, but even there you can see some areas where there's no ripples. Marci/Marci Girl Designs and I have been discussing this issue, sending quilts back and forth in emails comparing them - quilts from a variety of quilters. And we are wondering:

• is it the direction of stitching?
• is it related to the needle or thread, fabric or batting?
• is it because I spray baste?
• is it due to my quilting speed? (fast)
• is it my walking foot?
• is it compounded by the size of the quilt?

The Mini Mango I just quilted did not ripple one iota. On it, I used both my walking and free-motion feet.

And it didn't happen at all on Chinese Checkers, where I did totally free-motion.

So will you share your expertise? Marci and I - and I assume others - would really love to hear what you have to say. . .

Linking up with Really Random Thursday.