Ok, I have finished this little one above. Remember the little batic quilt I had pieced? Well, yesterday I got the wild notion that I needed to machine quilt it! I have been inspired by Elaine Adair's wonderful quilting she does on her domestic machine. I carefully layered and pinned well, and started out. And the back is one huge mess of tucks and wrinkles!! The front looks Ok, and I will be donating this quilt to the new owner...the little dog above! Yes, Rusty, you have another quilt for your bed. Yippee! (Rusty is inspecting for quality...he may not accept this).
It seemed the faster I went, the smoother it all went. And that was not smooth!
Here is a blurry shot of the whole thing. On the bright side, the binding is as perfect as any I have ever seen....Hee!! I had such fun doing it anyway...maybe next time I can try the fabric adhesive spray and really meld the layers together. Oh, by the way, my feed dogs do not lower...could that be the trouble??Have to laugh at ourselves!!!! Have a super great day
JulieK
19 comments:
Remember - we are our own worst critics. It looks great from here *s*
I had an old Singer that the feed dogs did not lower, but there was a special plate that covered them. It really will help if you can get them out of your way.
I am a huge fan of basting glue. I never learned how to pin. Don't go at it with too heavy of a hand, though. It really doesn't take much to get-er-stuck. And if there's a lot, it will gum up the needle.
Just remember to spray lightly and smooth, smooth, smooth. *s*
For my machine quilting...I pin, as I think the glue will be more mess than help....also do not add the binding until I am thru (perhaps you waited too)...also use a walking foot...I don't lower the feed dogs as I use a embroidery stitch or I stitch in the ditch.
But don't give up hope..practice and more practice.
From this side of the hill your quilt looks great...you are probably down grading your own accomplishment...could any one in the house do any better...if not then you are ahead of them.
Have a very blessed week.
Amelia
remember the 10 foot rule...I think you are to hard on yourself...the top looks great:) practice makes perfect...:)
I think you should be proud of yourself for doing this and getting it done. The quilt looks great in the pics and Rusty looks pleased. You may want to hop over and visit Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio. She just did her first quilt on her home machine and did a really great post with lots of wonderful tips. It is a definite must read!!
Machine quilting can be so darned frustrating at time - but its still a pretty quilt!
Hi Julie, I am sure the quilt will keep Rusty warm.Yep, it was the feed dogs and I use a walking foot with my machine, when I machine quilt. Regards Lyn
Good for you! Machine quilting is a lot of fun and very zen once you get comfortable. If you ahve a piece of template plastic, cut a square of it and cut out a hole for the needle. Put that over your feed dogs and that may help - but I quilted a quilt this weekend and forgot to lower the feeddogs and it worked just fine.
I don't know but this sure is a happy little cute little thing and I like it! Someone is lucky!
Your quilt looks great in the picture. If feed dogs don't lower then there usually is a plate that you can put on top of them (as Libby said), but you only need that for free motion quilting. You can do lots more than just straight line designs with a walking foot-any gently curving designs, like cables.
Very pretty and bright quilt. I like to use the spray adhesive on my wallhangings and smaller quilts. I would like to invite you to visit http://fallintofallquilters.blogspot.com/. I am hosting a quilt blogger giveaway with 40 participants giving away prizes. Come on over and enter the fantastic drawings.
Hi,
Just found your blog, think you are hard on yourself..as we all are..the top looks fine, dont show the back!! There ya go!!.
I never lower my feed dogs if that helps..and I stabalise first, like do straight stitching up and down and across,then work on filling in the design..but I love the design and think it looks fine. I said to Pam Holland once, I cant get this machine quilting..she said its all about practice practice practice..I still trying..ha ha
I free motion quilt with the feed dogs up sometimes and down sometimes. If you tape your backing to the table before you baste, you usually don't get puckers on the back. I hand baste but of course you can pin if you like. Untape the backing before you close all of the pins.
Your quilt looks great, don't be too hard on yourself! Free motion quilting is usually done with the feed dogs down so that might have caused your puckering problem. Another question I have is what type of batting did you use? The cotton battings will cling to the cotton fabric and that helps keep puckering away. I did some quilting with a poly batting and oh my! Talk about puckers!
I like the colors you have used in your quilt!!!
I cant get pinning to work for me, but I use basting spray, & also tack.
I am sure Rusty will love that pretty quilt!
What a brave girl you are! I have not yet attempted free motion quilting. I think you did very well, and Rusty is one lucky pup!! I hadn't thought about using a fabric adhesive spray - thanks for the tip!
Rusty is just too cute, by the way!
Hurray! Looks wonderful! Glad you jumpped right it! I enjoy machine quilting! I just pay attention to the rythm of the machine. I use safety pins when I machine quilt on my DSM! Have fun exploring the possibilities!
I use the Sulky temporary spray for all my quilt basting any more. Sometimes, no matter what basting method you use, a wrinkle on the back occurs.
Woohoo!!! Look at you! Just think of how much easier it's going to be to freemotion without those nasty feed dogs tripping you up! You'll have to check with your machine place and see if they have a cover or something that will allow you to freemotion. Have you read your manual? Is there a little button or something that you don't yet know about for disengaging the feed dogs?
Rusty will be one dog you won't have to fight with now that he's got a gorgeous new quilt to love!
Hugs to you, Julie!
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