Saturdays are for Quilting!

What a fabulous couple of days I've had! Working at Sew Simple, doing some extra stuff there and finally getting into the groove with my customer's quilt.

quilting a Dresden in free motion
Yes, I'm using my ruler toe on my Janome convertible free motion foot set even though I'm not using rulers. It does reduce visibility, but I'm used to it and it's very good at gliding over occasional thick seams.

Today there's been just enough rain that I don't feel like I ought to be doing yard work. I'm missing one fabulous little girl who is at the beach with my parents for her birthday and the two boys are very content, alternating between reading, playing on the porch, or playing a few video games.

ferny feather corner

 So I've been quilting away. I had lost steam on this project when the border I had started just didn't work out. I had a half-circle ruler that fit this inner border perfectly and echoed the shaped of the four half-Dresden plates. But it didn't work out for the length of the borders. I changed it up, but after finishing it, I wasn't satisfied. I ripped it all out.


 If you look closely, you can see needle marks left in the batiks. They'll disappear after I give the quilt a light misting of water from a spray bottle and a quick rub with a piece of batting. I re-did the border with a contemporary feather alternative, the fern feather.

My 'Norme' sized "Leaves Galore" ruler by Sue Pelland was a perfect fit to mark the spine too.

free motion quilting

Stitching the fern feather felt and looked so good. It gave me my quilting mojo back. There are just times in quilting when you have to step away from a piece and let a few ideas percolate. When you get back to it, the creative flow returns and it is wonderful!

free motion quilting spirals

Here's the quilt 'puddled' under my machine. That bit of blue on my machine is Painter's Tape. I use a loop of it and stick my bits of thread to it. With the quilt puddled, I only need to move the flat portion while I quilt. The first folded 'peak' of quilt rises or stretches out as I move the quilt and the rest stays still. That reduces the weight of the quilt for smooth movement.


I flipped up a corner of the quilt for a quick peek at the back. It's a bit wrinkly since it's sitting on the rest of the quilt instead of laying out flat.


Since the owner has blogged about this quilt and my quilting of it, I'm going to link to her blog. Ellen Parrott does beautiful work with art quilts, especially her fabric portraits. Fabulous! I'm getting to quilt a few of her older, more traditional quilts. She also meets up with a local art quilt group for challenges, which I think is really cool.

I hope you are getting to do something quilty or fun this weekend and are having some lovely fall weather.

15 comments:

  1. Oh Amy beautiful quilting! I am a huge fan of Dresdens. I too like swirly background fillers. Exciting you are getting more customer quilts.

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  2. Thanks for the shout out, Amy! I'm glad you were able to walk away from the frustration for a while and regroup. I think it's looking great! :)

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  3. Amy this is gorgeous! I love how the back of the dresden plate quilting area looks like a peacock tail! I may not always comment but I always enjoy your blog and sharing!
    ~ Christina

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  4. Thank you so much for the "puddling" tip. I always learn something new and useful from your blog.

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  5. Would that foot work on n my janome7700? The main problem I have is skipped stitches on thicker areas. I am learning so much from your blogs a d videos. Thanks

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    1. It sure would! For skipped stitches in thicker areas, my first problem solving idea is to use a larger needle.

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  6. Love seeing what you're working on. Personally, I'm not fond of batiks, but I sure appreciate the quilting you're putting into this one. I'm also relieved to know that you too have moments when the quilting doesn't feel right, and you have to undo. A quilt I've just started isn't getting off on the right foot. I've stepped away from it, and now am finding it difficult to get back to. Need more inspiration, though I know what I need to do... it's just not what I want to do! Cross-hatching behind appliqué. Ick.

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  7. That looks gorgeous, Amy! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. I love both batiks and your blog; it encourages me to persist in learning to free motion quilt. Thnk you so much for sharing.

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  9. I learned two new tricks on this post Amy - the painter's tape for threads (love this!) and misting/rubbing with batting to remove needle holes. Can't wait to try both of these, though it will be a couple of weeks as we are on vacation. blessings, marlene

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