Thread: Do you want to see some progress??

Hello everyone again, long time no see!! It's been a while since I last checked you all out - sorry!! I have been really busy and have made alot of progress on my first quilt and would love to share a few photos with you. :D

One of my favourite blocks!

Close up of the hearts and swags border.

First photograph with all borders attached. It is still in two pieces for ease of quilting due to the size of it.

OMG!!! Is that the project from McCall's Quilting??? I was totally humbled by your pics!

I am a long way from attempting that, and you made it look just like the magazine! Wonderful!!! If you don't put it in a quilt show, I will be very disappointed!

:mrgreen: :lol: :wink:

That is so pretty...I love the swags and hearts! And Sunbonnet Sue was our BOM at the beginning of the month (so you've got a head start!) LOL!

Karen

Thanks for your enthusiasm, it encourages me!! I haven't followed any set pattern, I started off my doing random 12" blocks, and the quilt just evolved from there. I get alot of support from the group I am in - check us out at http://www.perianastitchers.net if you haven't done so already. I have used lots of different techniques and started off by stitching alot of the blocks by hand over paper ( I drew them out on squared paper to 6" then doubled up the squares when cutting out each individual piece), but soon realised how much quicker it is to machine piece, and then tried foundation piecing, which you can see in the flying geese. It has taken me nearly a year to get to the stage, and I have enjoyed every minute stitching - and boy have there been alot of those!!

What a cutey

More formal

This block came from EQ5

Izy,
Your quilt is lovely, and you do beautiful work. Sampler quilts are my favorite.

Wow, i just love your quilt, it is so beautiful!!! And this is your very first quilt? I'm really in awe!

Its lovely to hear your praise, I have been practising free motion like crazy over the last two weeks, while I was waiting for the Microstitch basting gun to arrive - I have attached a couple of pictures for you to see!

You do beautiful work. I love the applique!

A very lovely quilt, you have done a great job :D :D :D

This is my second example of textured free motion- what a difference a week can make!! Practice makes perfect - but how much longer....as you have gathered I am quite impatient!!

That is gorgeous, girl! I am impressed!

What a beautiful quilt and its in my favorite color--pink!!! And your quilting looks great.

Gorgeous first quilt! :shock: Your machine quilting is coming along beautifully! Keep going! Make more! :D

This is your first quilt!?! :shock: Well that is a bit intimidating. You do amazing work and it is quite stunning.

Micro basting gun...when you get it, try it out first on something that is basically a practice piece or doesn't matter. I discovered I hated the basting gun. It leaves holes in the fabric that I am simply unwilling to accept. I thought I'd give you a heads up. I can't imagine your beatiful quilt with lots of little holes. :( I hope it works better for you than it did for me.
~Tiffany

WOW :shock: What a gorgeous quilt! Your free motion quilting amazes me...you are very talented. I'm still learning and am nowhere near where you are now. What kind of machine do you use? I'm curious...your stitches look beautiful.

I tried a basting gun also...got the same result as Tiffany...be careful..maybe yours will have smaller ties thingies so the hole won't be very large. Also...mine shifted after I had it basted. Good luck with that great quilt...its a stunner!

This is your FIRST quilt????? My, my, my, you my dear are so talented. I can not imagine trying this one first. I am so impressed. Can't wait to see your future projects. :thumbup: :thumbup: :D

Your fffffffirst quilt? :shock: It's beyond unbelievable. You are terrific. I bow to you. :D

I think I'm speechless...all I can really say is WOW!! :shock: :thumbup:

Thanks for your concern, but previous to using it, I had done alot of research on the web, and I saw that there was mixed reviews, some hating it and others loving it, but then I discovered the 'microstitch' - this version is ultra small the tacks are so small you can hardly see them. A fellow member of my group brought one back from the U.K. and so I could actually see how good this version is. I have already used it and after abit of practice like you suggest decided it was safe to use. I had a couple of misfires, but believe it was down to me just getting used to it. I will take a photo of the pins close up so you can see.

Great quilt! The free motion quilting is fabulous! I've not yet got the nerve up to do the machine quilting yet. Really want to cause I know it is a lot faster! Is the walking foot for only straight lines or can you use it for border designs (like curves and such) also? I have a walking foot I got at a second hand store but haven't tried it yet.

Its 3.30am here - I have been to bed, but I am sooo excited about starting to actually quilt I couldn't sleep!! Here's a couple of really close up shots of the microstitch tacks, they are ultra tiny, and you are supposed to be able to stitch over them (but I have placed them carefully to try an avoid that) also I am not using very thick batting, as it is so warm here in Southern Spain, so these are ideal, I have used about 1000, a full pack nearly, of these tacks placing them practically every 1 - 2" and yesterday, stitched n ditched all the sashings (for the first time - scary or what!!!) you can see a little bit on one of the pictures. I use a Janome 9000 which I bought second hand from Rachel, one of the leaders of our group.

I am using a walking foot for all the straight lines, I don't think you can use one for tight curves as you need your feed dogs in the up position. To free motion you have the feed dogs down and use an open toe foot for darning etc. I was absolutely convinced a month ago that free motion wasn't for me......but I persevered and one day I got the swing of it, but you need to relax and not worry about it, I stitched about 6 fat quarter sized sandwiches on scrap fabric, (which my dog sasha now has for mats for her bed!!) stitching for about 1-2 hours most days for a couple of weeks! A good tip I heard today when your sandwich is full up, change your colour of thread and go over it all again, and again, upto 3 or 4 colours, that way you are not wasting too much fabric and batting. !Sasha! gimme back your covers.....need more practice tee hee!! :twisted:

I just remembered the first way in which I tried quilting actual motifs, I traced the design onto greaseproof paper and pinned it on top of the quilted sandwich then with an open toe foot, low pressure and feed dogs up, stitched on top of the lines. You then rip the paper away afterwards. Only problem with this way, is you have to rotate the quilt around as in normal stitching and this will be impossible on a large item. The echo quilting I did free hand, just by sighting the previous line of stitching in the top corner of the open toe foot as a guide.

wow, that is drop dead gorgeous! Applique is so time consuming. Yours looks so neatly done. did you use a close zig zag? from the pic it looks like you didn't. i tried the applique with the closer stitch and i thought it was too coarse looking. i guess i'll try this. but did you fuse it first? or what is keeping it from raveling when you wash??

I use bondaweb or steam a seam for most of my applique, some I have needle turned to learn the different techniques. My machine has several different embroidery stitches built it and I experimented with different styles and altering the sizes so ensure good coverage of the edges, so fingers crossed it should stand the test of time!! :?