Free Motion Quilting again...

This quilt I've been working on for two weekends now is nearly done. But it's actually GREEN, not purplish like in these pictures.

What the heck--I guess I must need a new camera. I have NO idea why all the pictures turned out like this--but whatever the reason, it just fits into the way my day is turning out already.

Anyway, I've been quilting for about 5-6 hours a day on this for the past two weekends--

I always use fusible batting, it makes the quilt sandwich quite stiff, which makes it easier to move around in the machine while sewing. This was all done on my non-electronic Pfaff machine, which I really like to use more than my more expensive machine.

The thread I used was Aurifil Mako 50, which comes on a pretty good sized spool so I don't have to keep replacing the thread when the spool runs out. I always try to wind about 2-3 bobbins at a time when I sit down and get ready to free motion quilt, that way I don't have to stop and do it in the middle of quilting. (I think I've probably used about 8-10 full bobbins on this already).

I generally use Sharp Microtex needles, size 70 or 80 (depending on what I have on hand) and don't get any thread breakage or problems. It also helps to change your needle after sewing for about 4 hours with it, you'll really see a difference if you keep a fresh needle in your machine.

Another tip is to take that little brush that came with your sewing machine and check the bobbin area once in a while for lint that might build up from your thread. Even with Aurifil thread, which has less lint than practically any other thread I've tried, some still builds up and you need to get it out of there before it affects your machine's sewing ability.

Some people use quilting gloves when doing this type of work -- I bought a pair of rubbery palm gardening gloves at Lowe's a few years ago and find that I like using only one, on my left hand, and keeping my right hand uncovered. Most of the moving and sliding is done w/my left hand, apparently, it's not something that I really think about while I'm doing it.

My arms are definitely sore today!

Middle of July already

I've been pretty bad about posting to this blog, but I have been keeping myself busy! Here's a picture of a largish (40w x 48 h) wall hanging using some of my shibori fabric. It's pretty much done except for quilting, which to me is the most fun part.

Here's a sideways view:

Monoprinting is the monthly project at And Then We Set It on Fire. Since the temperature here has been 95+ every day, and my garage is my "studio", I haven't been able to spend much time out there. I did try some printing yesterday, with some new stamps that I've carved (and some old ones), but the paint was drying before I could get the stamping done. These were printed on some paper, just to see how they'd turn out.


And here's one piece that I'm actually happy with. I still want to add some bubble wrap printing to it, or something like that. It'll make a nice pillow.

And some quilting, since it's so hot outside. It's easier to stay inside in the AC and quilt away.

Screen printing

I finally did some deconstructed screen printing this weekend. Here are some of the pieces I made. For more information on the process, check And Then We Set It On Fire.

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Busy week

A picture of my daughter's dog, who jumped into the baby crib to try it out while we were putting in the bumper pads I made. I think she might have a slight problem when the baby is born...

My daughter Erin (in the middle) with two of my nieces, Karin (left) and Megan (right). Taken right before the start of her baby shower last Saturday in Middletown, NY.

It was a great shower, she got enough stuff for quadruplets, and I got to see my sisters, sister-in-law, and lots of nieces. Back to work on Wednesday, and trying to catch up with everything that had to be done while I was away.

And here is my round robin fabric that Beth from Maine sent me, it's almost ready to be sent on to the next person on the list, Jenny. I boiled out the batik wax this morning before work, but it was still wet when I left home at 7:15.

I also made an embellished screen for deconstructed screen printing using some of my lunaria seed pods. Can't wait to get home tonight to see how it all turns out, as this is my first time playing with this stuff! Screenprinting is the technique of the month on And Then We Set It On Fire and this is the first time I've had to try it out.

Shibori Obsession

Here's some of the work I did yesterday using the techniques I learned at the Jan Myers Newbury workshop. I just love how these turned out!!

Shibori Workshop & Quilt Symposium

Yesterday I went to Raleigh for a Jan Myers Newbury workshop, A Pole and a Piece of Fabric at the NC Quilt Symposium. It was a six-hour workshop, most of which was held in a laundry room at Peace College. Here's a bunch of wrapped poles sitting in dye buckets.

Jan at the sink. She was a very laid back, very informative teacher. If I could afford it, I would have taken a longer class with her today, too!

Some quilts from the quilt show, which I went through really quickly at lunchtime--it was pretty crowded so I didn't stay long...

These three quilts caught my eye, the colors and quilting.

There were lots and lots of traditional quilts, but it's funny, I only took pictures of a few very colorful, very similar quilts. Hmmm...

Baby shower next week

Baby things are occupying my "spare" time lately--I finished up a blanket last night, just posting the back of it, as it's a surprise for my daughter and I don't want her to see the front.

Nearly a whole month has gone by

Here is the piece I think might be going into the round robin organized by Judith of Quilt Or Dye. I cut some freezer paper into strips and ironed onto a fat quarter, then painted with pebeo setacolor paint in chartreuse. I'm not sure if it's too graphic for a round robin, but I'll get the piece back eventually and want to make sure it's something I can use.

And of course, baby things are occupying my mind and time these days, trying to get everything done and in the mail before a shower coming up in early June--

A baby quilt in progress.
And bumper pads for the crib, these were harder than I thought they'd be to figure out!


And don't forget to enter the giveaway on And Then We Set It On Fire -- in honor of our 100+ followers, each of us is giving away a fat quarter.

I won a prize!

Just for posting some pictures on the 3 Creative Studios flickr group last month, I was selected to win a random prize. It was two patterns all the way from Australia from Brenda Gael Smith of Serendipity Patchwork & Quilting. Brenda hosted a shibori workshop and presented four great tutorials. Check them out here.

We had some rain last weekend, which has been a rare occurrence here in central North Carolina, and the flowers all looked great afterwards. Peonies are ready to bloom--

And the silver dollar plant will have lots of seeds this year--

Coral bells are looking better than they have since I planted them about 3 years ago--

I got this book at the library a couple of weeks ago, and have been attempting the cathedral windows pattern. I had tried the cathedral window pattern way back in the 1970s, but did it all by hand then, this book has directions for hand and machine work. Will post something as soon as I get far enough long so that it actually looks like something.

Nice weekend

Well, except for the tornadoes flying through central NC on Saturday, it was a good weekend. On Saturday I tried a new shibori technique that was presented in the Shibori Girl on-line workshop I'm taking. I used the rubbermaid sink protector I had previously used for batiking, and pushed the fabric through the holes with a skewer. This is a good way to get a consistent pattern on a piece of fabric.

Here's what it looked like from the back:

I tied off the tips, then dipped it into some dyes.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished piece, as I was trying to hurry and take pictures this morning at 7 am before leaving for work--it did turn out nicely.

I also tried the parfait dyeing again. I had two yellow-ish pieces that I had stamped some things onto (carved the stamps with speedball cutter) but wasn't thrilled with. So I parfaited them with fuchsia and some khaki.


And baby blankets are all done! Here is front and back sides of one.

And just the fronts of two others ready to go: