Interlocking Squares

Used this Week: 7 yards
Used year to Date: 36.375 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 56.625 yards
Net Used for 2010: -20.25 yards

I’ve been messing around with this quilt since fall. It feels really good to get it finished. The piecing went quickly but for some reason, I procrastinated getting it layered and machine quilted together.

I did get the free motion quilting finished . Lots of mistakes but learning something with every project. I need to work on visibility. Most of us in our forties are in the reading glasses window. My eye sight wasn’t good before I got to my forties. The reading glasses seem like a hassle. I can’t really say that the vision is that much better. Maybe another trip to the eye doctor would be in order.

The other thing I need to correct is the lighting. I’ve skimmed a few articles on indirect lighting but didn’t really give it my full attention. It has my attention now. I’ve got a couple of floor lamps sitting around the cabinet along with another cabinet to help hold the quilt off to my left side. It just feels cluttered around my desk. I think I’ll discuss with Mr. Nice Guy because he is mechanically inclined and will have a McGyverish idea about how I can make this work better.

I got this brilliant idea about using a large extension table on top of my sewing cabinet to better my line of sight. While it brought the quilt closer to me, my arms were higher than a 90 degree angle. My shoulders and neck were killing me after stitching the first third of the quilt. It was hard to move the quilt around. In hind sight, I probably should have fluffed the quilt around the table more but it was kind of a pain in the rear. I was constantly adjusting the quilt. The sewing machine returned to sitting in the cabinet for the remainder of the quilting which was much better on the neck, shoulders and back. Moving the quilt went much better as well.

Nothing much has changed on the design wall. My daughter got almost 4 rows of her quilt blocks sewn. My job was to pin and press. She did most of the work. She is back home now so I will finish the last rows. I’ve decided to put this project on hold for a little bit. I’m tired of the stack of UFOs laying around. They are getting done!

I will focus on free-motion quilting for a little bit. I sewed a jelly roll quilt and put the layers together this past summer. This poor quilt has been sitting around waiting to be finished. I do mean “poor quilt”. I’ve put it through the ringer. I thought I knew what I was doing when I started this. But I didn’t really. I started out with the wrong marking products so I have several lines drawn in a couple of colors. I free-motion stitched about half the quilt. It was my first attempt at free motion on a “real” quilt. The stitch length, etc was terrible. So I ripped it all out which took some time. At this point, about half of my markings are faded. Then I found the marking product I do like. I decided I didn’t like the way I laid out the stencil markings the first time so I moved those around. More colored lines on the fabric. Mostly I just see a jumbled bunch of markings when I look at the quilt now. Anyhow, you get the idea. One not so good idea followed by another. I’d like to just start stitching without a pattern like I’ve been learning on the videos but there are so many lines and colors that it is just confusing to see where you have been. I almost threw it out Saturday night. I was so disgusted with myself. But then I thought it is silly to do that. This is a great practice piece, this “poor quilt”. I decided to use golden threads paper and just sew on the paper. That took care of the multitude of colored lines drawn on the quilt. It is a little different sewing on the paper. I had no idea how fun it would be to take the paper back off. LOL. Mr. Nice guy was curious about the machine stitching so he took a stab at stitching through a few of the layers of golden thread paper. He really did do a fine job and gave me a good idea of how to keep the paper layers together so they wouldn’t shift as much when I stitched the pattern. He was doing a good job of staying on the lines. Darn him. I couldn’t even stay on the lines on my first try.

So far I am sticking with it. I am glad that I did rip out the original free motion stitching. While my stitching stills needs improvement, it is far better than it was the first time. Thank you Patsy Thompson.

I just purchased a quilting video from Shiisa Quilts called Fluff & Stuff by Paula Reid.Thanks to Janet at Shiisa Quilts. She had a wonderful sale and I received my order quickly.

I would highly recommend this video to anyone that is interested in machine quilting, especially a beginner. She covers everything from needles to batting to quilting. It was good to see how she handles a large quilt. Tomorrow I’m going to try the fluff and stuff method for free motion quilting on a quilt I’ve been needing to finish up.

I am starting to acquire a collection of quilting videos. But I like watching the various techniques that quilters use to free motion. Everyone has their own preferences and techniques. I always learn something new with each new instructor.

I am attempting to learn free-motion machine quilting. I have taken a couple of classes. I do have one free motion DVD. The problem is the practice part. I need to make a commitment to practice for 30 minutes a day. While I do work full-time, our kids are grown. You would think I could manage to get this done.

Part of the problem is I get discouraged. I’m not one of those artsy fartsy folks that can see a design and then sew it. I have the hardest time with my coordination. It is quite humbling. So, I did some research on Free Motion DVDs and decided to purchase the Pajama Quilter DVD.

This DVD is incredible. Dawn Ramirez teaches you to draw out the free motion designs on a dry erase board. The idea is the brain/arm coordination. Your teaching your arm to move to create the pattern. It doesn’t matter if you are sewing on a long arm or a domestic sewing machine, you still have to be able to use your arms to create the design.

I really like this dvd. She has a section just for beginners. That would be me. Then she moves up through leaves, flowers, etc. After each section, she quilts the example that she is teaching which of course looks effortless. She’s had lots of practice you know. I’m having a ball trying the different designs. Because I’m using a dry erase board, I can start over as many times as I want, which is many times.