Well, I have not only damaged my own children for life, but half of the neighborhood as well... all in one day!!! We played this past Saturday for a couple of hours... Let's see... 10 kids, 2 hours... :shock: I need to go take out a loan right now so I will be able to pay out all of the lawsuits & therapist bills I'll be hit with in a couple of years!!

Unfortunately, you are right. We (my DH & I) have tried our best not to raise our girls to feel Entitled. Instead, they are expected to Earn many of the things & privileges they have. They are old enough now to see the benefit of our teachings, especially when dealing with some of their friends. But, if they whine and get mad at a decision that is not in their favor, I just tell them to add it to their list of topics to discuss with their therapist when they're grown. At that point they will usually laugh & see how silly they are being. No offense to anyone, but the Parents are letting the TV raise their children way too often instead of being with them.

Last Saturday we played Baseball... Those kids will never have a chance!!! :roll: :lol:

The only time i've tried stippling so far was in the border of a baby quilt for my (now 3-yr-old) niece. Since I used a classic Pooh print as the main fabric, I thought I'd do stippling in the border and then applique little bees. That idea lasted roughly 2.7 seconds! :lol:

I ended up abandoning traditional stippling and just let the thread wander about and periodically threw in a free-motion bee outline, then free-motion embroidered "Bother free is the way to bee..." on the long sides. Came out very cute, but I'm not sure I'm ready to try it again yet!!!

Sounds like you may not be giving yourself enough credit... those are some major accomplishments! :-)

:D I just finshed my first stippled quilt. I was kind of intimidated about trying it, as I was familiar about the not crossing the lines rule etc and really wasn't looking too forward to the experience. To my surprise I however found it fast and quite fun! Of course my Bernina BSR makes it pretty enjoyable, not to try to promote the line of course. I certainly don't fear it any more and plan on doing it again on my next quilt. Any yes a few lines were crossed, but I challenge the quilt police to find them, ha!

Way to Go!!!! Congratulations!!!! Can you post a picture of your finished quilt? We love to see them!!! :D

Well I gift wrapped it last night. It's for my stepson's h.s. graduation tomorrow night. It was a pine needles pattern, a slightly more custom "At home in the woods" version. Am really pretty proud of, dang it, and I meant to photo it. I may have to unwrap and rewrap it tonite. If I do will post it for you. Thanks for asking and happy quilting. Do try stippling, I think you'll like it a lot!

I gift wrapped it last night for my stepson's h.s.graduation tomorrow night. I meant to photo it but forgot. I may have to unwrap and rewrap it. It's a pine needles pattern, a slightly modified "At Home in the Woods" version. If I photo it tonite. Will post probably on Wed, as I will be out of pocket tomorrow. Thanks for asking and do try stippling. You'll enjoy it a lot!

sorry for the duplicate.

No big deal... We can wait until after he sees it first. I guess that's the fair thing to do... :lol:

Problem is he's in TX, and I'm in CO. It goes to TX tomorrow.

Can he have a picture taken?

Well, life happens... I sure hate we missed it! :cry: (feeling guilty yet?? No pressure though... :lol: )

You're a quilter now, so rule #1 after completion- Take pictures for your personal catalog (to show us really :lol: ) in case it is ever stolen, or just to see your own progress. I promise you'll look back & be amazed!! (in my case it is usually because "I forgot I made that one") Anyway, now I've spent my 2 cents, so I'll shut up. :D I am so glad you're stippling now. Congrats to the Step-Son as well!!!

When the stitching lines cross, just make sure it does it more than just once and then I call it meandering instead of stipple. Semantics. A rose is a rose...... Pam :lol: :lol: :lol:

hi, When I first started stippling I took a piece of material, sandwiched it with batting and backing, about 9 inches sq. and practiced stippling. I acquaint it with playing the piano. you must get a rythum going so you don't end up with "thread throw-up" like the teacher taught us. It is really fun after you get the hang of it. and yes it looks like puzzle pieces sewn all over the quilt. Practice, practice, practice.

CARLA!!

I agree with you wholeheartedly! I am terrified of messing up months of my patchwork, designing, etc. with messed-up quilting that I either:

1. leave the quilt as a top
2. do VERY basic hand-quilting (so I have a chance of finishing it some day
3. tie the quilt (which makes some people feel the need to tell me that my finished product is not in fact a "real" quilt-- meanies!), or
4. acutally mess it up trying to feed it through my machine!

I would really love to try FMQ and other machine-quilting techniques, but I am so worried to mess something up, or have my Kenmore machine laughed at by the Pfaffers at my local quilt shop.

*sigh* :shock:

table runners and goldfish quilts are the perfect place to practice any type of machine quilting, or hand for that matter. however doing something that small is WAAAYYYYY easier than doing a quilt i've done 3 twins (not so bad) and 3 queens ( pretty tuff) even with all the tricks i've learned i have decided to do them in quarters from now on.

What are goldfish quilts?

follow the bouncing link
http://www.quiltingboard.com/posts/list/1111.page;jsessionid=D9A433E43F16D18ECC71C1333D744 353

I need some tips on attaching a photo. Do I disable or enable anything?

My first stippled quilt if it attached correctly. "At Home in the Woods 2"

susanhcc

WOW!! WOW!! WOW!!

I can't think of anybetter words!

I could'nt get anything to come up.

Me niether... :shock:

Stippling would be a subject I would very much like to have discussed
in more detail. My vote is for Stippling.

I came across this video link. I am still wondering what the difference is between stippling and meandering, or how anyone manages to hand stipple/meander, but this makes it look fairly easy for machinists......if anyone is interested.

(You may need to cut and paste into your browser)
http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/tvt035.asp

This site gives a good explaination.

http://www.needlepointers.com/displaypage.aspx?ArticleID=30976&URL=http%3a%2f%2f www.quiltmaker.com%2ftips%2ftech4%2findex1.html

Thanks Celeste. It was sure fun. My husband sent me the picture and it was grouped with some other photos, and I couldn't figure out how to remvove the one jpeg, so that might be how others couldn't access it. My digital camera is out of batteries, so I may try another session later. Sorry to those who couldn't open the file. Computers are too smart for me sometime.

Hello, I am doing research on quilting and plan to start a quilt when I get enough nerve. I am interested in the stipple or meandering effect. I tried it on a placemat and broke about a dozen machine needles. What did I do wrong.

What kind of machine do you have?

I have a Brother PC-8500 which does embroidery as well as sewing.

I've been told a Smetz Universal needle works best did you use one?

Yes I have a Schmetz package in front of me now. I really think I need to know if I move my hand fast and machine speed slow or machine speed fast and hand slow. I really couldn't find the right combination. I finally stopped because I ran out of needles and had to go to town and buy more. I am rural. I am new to this forum and can't get your answer without leaving and coming back to this site. How do I get your response quicker? Thank you.

To get responses, just click refresh on your browser window; that should update to include any new responses.

Sew faster than the speed you move your hands, & never "pull" your quilt under the needle. Also, make sure your needle is in the center position. One other thing... I highly recommend Sharps over Universal needles for quilting. Sharps go between the threads of the fabric whereas Universals tend to pierce the threads of the fabric, which can cut them.

Hope this helps.

If your needles are breaking you are probably pushing the material to fast and the needle bends and then breaks. Also are your feed dogs down and pressor foot up.

Thank you for your responses. I will update you all on my progress. I will try the Sharps needles. I keep reading these messages from everyone and have enjoyed all the friendly chats between you. I had to jump in and ask a question. Thanks again.

Is 80 the right size of sharps needles for stippling?

That size should do just fine if you are using size 40, 50, or 60 thread. You could also use a 70 or 75 needle with the size 50 or 60 thread for smaller needle holes, but your quilting thread will be a little less visible. The visibility is a personal preference depending on your project.

Clear as mud?

Excellently clear. Thank you. Were you able to see the downloadable photo of the quilt?

No. All I am getting is an AOL page, but the pictures are "X" out & I can't get them to open. I hate it. Maybe I'll be able to catch the next time. :D

Mandy,

Please, please, please: 1. Do not be afraid to try... Make a quilt sandwich with just plain muslin if you need to, but allow yourself the chance to at least try... It is a lot of fun; and 2. Do not be ashamed of your sewing machine or your sewing capabilities... I do not know of one single person born into this world with a Bernina under their arm, and not everyone owns one (including me). If we all owned one there would be no machines made by Kenmore, Brother, Singer, Elna, Viking, and so on and forth. Most people buy what they can, but "what you can" is a relative term, and not totally based on what you can financially afford. ("Can" includes- CAN find, CAN get this one with these features I want, CAN get this one because it is a super work horse, Can get this one because of portability, CAN get this one to fit in my sewing cabinet... Getting any of this?? :wink: ) If people are so shallow that they base their decisions about you based on your sewing machine name brand and age, they are SNOBS and do not deserve to have you waste your time on THEM! Now, no more shame in your game; it makes you doubt your skills and abilities and impedes your learning process. Be proud of yourself and accomplishments. A sewing machine is only a tool to help us reach our goal sooner. :D