Designs Under Duress

Have you ever heard that you are supposed to plan your quilting before you even begin piecing?  When I first began quilting this concept was way beyond my imagination.  I think it takes practice doing actual quilting before you are ready to think ahead very much.  Now I find myself at least thinking about how I will quilt the top while I am busy putting it all together.  Then I sit down and draw out my ideas on tracing paper.  BUT...

Sometimes those designs don't do justice to the quilt.  Grrrrrrr!  This results in ripping and re-designing.  My current quilt is the item under siege at the moment.   It truly has a mind of it own.  Gradually I have made my way out from the center with a fair amount of doing and re-doing.  I have stitched ideas on my scraps, but sometimes even those don't work out.  I have stitched new designs onto the quilt itself when I was sure they were perfect.  But they weren't.  Rrrrriipppppp!  Design looks dorky.  Thread color is wrong. Orientation is wrong.  I was off my feed and the stitching is wonky.

If... I mean when...this happens to you, pull out the bulldog in yourself and let it off the leash.  Rest a bit, but please don't give up.  Designs under duress are often the best ones yet and that is happening to me at this point.  I am now happy and eager to carry through around the other three sides of the quilt.  It is so much easier to quilt when you love how the design looks.  Sometimes you just have to listen to what the quilt is saying.  Sometimes it really has a mind of its own.

The quilt chose this design  It didn't like the orignal plan.

I hate to admit to all the ripping I did before this plan evolved.  This has been a very chatty quilt!  BTW the lighter color filler lines in the feathers is metallic gold.  It makes the quilt sparkle and glow.  The little square at the top is also stitched in gold.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you perfect designs even if under duress.

Is it Cheating?

I am doing free motion quilting (FMQ), and work on a sit-down, domestic machine.  I don't have rulers because I have chosen not to spend the money on a special foot and all the rulers.  Straight lines are problematic when FMQ-ing.  They are probably one of the hardest part of any design.  I have done many of them and am not too bad at it, but I would prefer to avoid the imperfections that I invariably create.  So I cheat.  I put on a standard straight foot (actually my appliqué foot for visual clarity) and stitch with the help of the feed dogs.  In the designs I am currently doing there are a lot of almost straight lines and they look so much better with the cheat method.  I thumb my nose at the Quilt Police.

Is this really cheating?  Of course not!!  I believe that you need to do whatever will accomplish your vision.  I am not a purist, but you need be sure it will work on your quilt without puckering either the top or backing.  The only way to test this is to try it on your actual quilt.  You might have to do a little ripping if it fails...so don't do too much for starters.

TIP:  The best way to prevent puckering is to stitch all your piecing and appliqué in the ditch (SID) before you begin any fancy quilting.  This way you have small areas secured.  Every line of stitching takes up a little bit of fabric so there is just a little bit less to bubble up.

Stitching straight guided by my favorite marking tool (Sewline Pencil).
Even those curved leaves came out nicely and there were no puckers.

Another thing to think about is the size of your quilt.  If you need to outline even a little 2 inch square, you will have to turn your quilt four times to make it around.  This may not be practical on a bed-sized quilt.  I make smaller quilts and have a machine with a roomy harp so I am not having a problem except that it is a bit of a nuisance.  However, I think it is worth it to get the straight lines and even stitches.  I also have the whole quilt well secured with lots of SID (every single seam!).

TIP:  You can use your dual feed or walking foot, but the SID allows the use of a regular foot.  I find it hard to maneuver my thick quilt under the dual feed foot.  It depends on your machine and quilt.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you success in evading both the Quilt Police and puckers.

Second Place Stitching

I am in a place where stitching comes second.

Summer is here:  lots of yardwork after the plumbers tore up the yard to hook us into the city sewer.

DH recovering from major surgery:  double duty for yours truly.

24 hour stomach upset:  just me, thank goodness; 48 hour recovery.

Ponderosa pine pollen:  all over the place, leaving us with headaches and sneezes.  It looks like yellow snow on the cars, furniture, kitchen counters, etc.  Lots of dusting to do every day.

Ponderosa pollen covers everything with yellow dust.

Clearly sewing takes second, third or fourth place in this scenario.  However, free motion thinking proceeds as usual, and I think I finally came up with a solution for quilting four, black blocks in my quilt.  I tried it on the actual quilt and below is the result.

Top motif on the black square has been the troublemaker.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you inspiration that solves your problems.