Monthly Archives: January 2011

I have to admit, that I really am loving this machine quilting project I’m taking on. Things are going so well–in a million years I would have never thought I’d be so pleased with how nice it’s turning out. It’s a big surprise to me.

My only big issue at this point is that I’ve been having some problems with my thread. It’s not constant, but every so often, it seems to bind up in the needle (or possibly further back in the machine, I’m not real sure) and breaks off. I’m using Coats and Clark 100% cotton machine quilting thread, but I’ve heard before that some machines (especially the higher end models) tend to be picky about what threads work well in them. I’m confused only because I’ve used this thread in my machine since I first got it for piecing and pretty much all other sewing and I’ve never had issues with it. My plan is to try some other threads for the next quilt I sew, but if anyone has dealt with this before and has ideas I’d appreciate it!

I’m about three-quarters of the way finished! I’m hoping to have the quilting all done by the end of the week!

I am seriously amazed at this quilting thing! It doesn’t even look too bad!

If I look closely at it, there’s many spots that I’m not in love with. The speed of it all is taking a lot of getting used to, but overall, I think my stitches are mostly even and tensioned well. I brought it along to work on tonight during Sit and Stitch at my local Modern Quilt Guild and got wonderful comments from everyone. I was geeked about that!

Thank you all for your excellent links and ideas today about machine quilting! I’m really excited about the new prospect of finishing my quilts this way. I can’t believe I waited this long to try it out, but I’m so glad I’m finally doing it. I have so many ideas, and so many projects to finish (including this one!) this year.

Hello 2011!

So, I’m not typically someone who makes big lists of resolutions, but this year, I’m determined to tackle a real quilting resolution for myself. I’ve been making quilts for over 10 years now, but I have yet to really take on machine quilting. This year I want to make learning how to free motion quilt a priority.

For a long time I’ve neglected to put something I made on our bed, mainly because I’m afraid Hudson will ruin it. He sleeps on the bed at night and has a tendency to spread dirt around liberally (eww). Recently though, I found out that I have some major allergy issues with the dog and cat, as well as with dust mites. I need to be able to wash all parts of our bedding weekly, but the comforter we were using is too big to fit in my washer.

Instead of buying a new quilt (seems stupid for someone who can quilt) I figured it was time to make one. I had the majority of these blocks made and I finished it off last week. I just kept thinking that it was going to stink to spend all that time hand quilting something that is sure to end up with dog slobber and dirt…a pretty unhappy end to a quilt that I’m sure I’d spend months finishing.

I’ve wanted to try free motion quilting for so long now, but I’ve been worried that I’d just end up wrecking a full quilt. Perfect for a quilt that’s going to get used all the time and will probably fall apart anyway, right?

I’m starting this project out, not expecting a whole lot from my first attempt at this. I’m tired of only really being able to hand quilt, and I feel like I could do so much more if I could just tackle free motion quilting. Keep your fingers crossed, and I’ll post progress soon.