Back to Quilting

Well it is still snowing and spring has not come but my dogs are home and snuffling and snoring; I am out driving and most of all I am back quilting.  It all seems about two months but is only 3 weeks of enforced rest.  Sometimes it seemed as if it was too difficult to do anything but read.  The other day as I headed to my easy chair again I saw this.

I did not have the heart to disturb this kitty curled up on a quilt and a shawl which if he only knew was knitted with wool spun from dog hair.  So I went up to my sewing room and started to sew.

You hear quilters talk about how touching fabric makes you feel but you do not realize how true this is until you have not felt like touching it for a while.  While all outside is cold and often grey in my sewing room there was colour from touchable batik fabric.  The result is this.

 It is based on a quilt called Traffic Jam which you can find on line here.
Pat Sloan Free Patterns Traffic Jam  The guild I belong to is doing this as a workshop if it ever stops snowing on guild days and causing cancellations.

This is my version of sorts.  Have you ever read something and thought you remembered exactly what it said.  Well sometimes you read and do not take in all the parameters.  I did this with Traffic Jam.  I had read 9 patch before surgery and started making 9 patches.  They seemed big but this was supposed to be a small quilt. I should have clued in but liked the large squares which made a quilt bigger, faster.  So the sashing disappeared and a stray left over 9 patch on point became a monument in what I call Town Square.  I like it.  It fits my size requirements but it is not Traffic Jam.  You never know what is going to happen especially if you do not review patterns carefully.  But some accidents result in good things including a laugh at myself.

I am working on a paper piecing scrap quilt through a Carol Doak Yahoo Group and the February installment came.  I am still supposed to be taking it easy but.........................  Well after Town Square was pinned up the design wall is filling up with the main block and 8 satellite blocks for February.  I am so glad the puss, a chocolate Siamese, decided to curl up so that I looked for something else to do than moulder in my easy chair.  I had also forgotten how time flies when you are busy quilting but my body is still healing and it tells when I must be still.  But it does not stop my mind from planning more quilts.

When I am finally released from restrictions there will be a pile of quilts to be quilted.  So what looks lovely on the design wall will be even more lovely with stitching and binding.  Thank goodness for quilting, cats and serendipity.

The sun did shine today.  It is still there and some tulips are coming up in pots in the window.  Winter is on the wane.   Now tell that to those blasted snowflakes.

Back to normal

The log cabin quilt made a hit.  It apparently almost made it into the garbage.  Making it useable and attractive creates a good feeling.

That good feeling had to last through a few days as quilting and virtually anything else took a backseat to feeling horrible.

But the sun is shining; the spring frost is burning off and two quilts are lined up to be done.  So there will be some experimentation on one which may or may not be sold and another gorgeous quilt made by a friend which will have a unique simple quilting design that will not take away from the quilt itself.

Machine quilting is a balancing act and this not only refers to getting the bobbin and top thread balanced but more about that.  It is tempting to do fancy quilting just because it is fun but the quilting should be about the quilt.  What makes the quilt look its best?  Some say the quilt tells you what is fine but like other conversations which are one sided you are not always totally sure about what the other person (in this case the quilt) is saying.  Does an ornate quilt need simple quilting or will ornate quilting keep the lush look?  Does a busy quilt need busy  or simple quilting.  Well an ornate quilt is often a busy quilt so it could be yes.  But then you have to think of colour and also if the quilt is modern or old fashioned.  Colour has a loud voice in quilting decisions. Then there is the construction to think of.  Lots of intersecting seams can make quilting interesting to say the least.  And if the quilt has an owner other than the long armer then there is a voice but not always of certainty.

In the end all the factors have to be weighed (sounds like a speech from a CEO who is going to give bad news to employees) and a decision and commitment made.  Oh how the heart flutters when that decision is made.  What will be the outcome?  At least no quilts will get laid off.

More about balancing.  I purchased a device to measure bobbin tension and a very simple one to measure the tension of top thread.  I tried to design one myself but could not find the fittings I wanted so I caved and bought the devices.  This is will be an opening act for these two devices.  They will not provide a perfect answer as there are so many factors to consider; fabric; quilting design; batting and thread but they should give a better starting point on the thread.  I will report on how this works.

So off to create a new quilting design and to load a quilt which has been hanging around and try the new devices.  A fun day.

No pictures (except a big pile of wood to be stacked) but hopefully in a couple of days the ornate quilt should be finished or at least almost.  Amazing how life intrudes into my lovely quilting world.

Have a good one!!!!!