I got brave and decided to finally work on labeling my quilts. Since my machine came with an embroidery attachment, I decided that it would be fun to use it on my quilt labels. Right now I decided that I will just put my name and the date that the quilt was finished. Later on, I can get more creative and add more wording.
I did manage to finish up my Christmas quilt. I am so happy on how this one turned out. It actually ended up being square. I did use this quilt as practice for several things:
I first began quilting with Aurifil 50wt 100% cotton gray thread. It is very fine, and I liked the way it quilted, but I also wanted to try another option. The quilting lines were hard to see and did not stand out as much as I would have liked. After quilting about 3 blocks, I then changed my top thread to Superior Threads 40wt King Tut Gray. The quilting stitches really stood out this time. I also discovered that Quilting needles are awesome to use for this as well. On my previous projects I used a universal 80/12 needle, but the quilting needle glided through the quilt sandwich much easier.
I also used the BSR to work on stippling a random pattern. I only quilted around the pinwheel so that way it would stand out more. I like the way this turned out. It was difficult to do this as I had to really watch myself so that I would not back myself into a corner. I wanted to make sure to keep the stitching continuous with out having to do each square and then start again.
I also used the Binding tool this time for the quilt binding instead of just wrapping the back over to the front to finish off the quilt. In the past on previous projects, I have had a hard time with this. However, with the Binding Tool, I was able to properly have the binding the correct size and fit together perfectly around the quilt. Looking at the quilt you would never know where the binding began or ended. I will definitely use this tool again.
It’s time to begin another quilt project.
Quilt Summary for this Christmas Quilt:
I had the opportunity to attend an “Embroidery Spree” at my local Quilt shop and Bernina Store, Quilting Delights, this past weekend. Since purchasing my new Bernina B770-QE machine, I have not had to opportunity to work on anything embroidery related. This is in part due to the fact that I have no idea how the embroidery attachment that came with my machine works. It was a great experience to meet new people and get an idea of what I can do with the embroidery attachment.
Here is a picture of of the projects that we completed over the two day event.
As you can see we completed two mug rugs. These were especially fun! I loved how you could just have the machine do everything for you. I liked embellishing the bag with my initials and adding a few flowers underneath. The scissors case was really cool, as we used the embroidery module to actually punch out the design of the case. We also got to use RFID fabric to complete a small wallet, very cool!
Thank you again to Quilting Delights for this opportunity and giving me ideas on how I can use embroidery with more of my quilting projects.
I think that I am going to try and design my own embroidered label for all of my quilts. I am very excited learn more about embroidering!
New Year…. Time to clean up, organize and make room for new projects.
While organizing my craft cabinet, I found a quilt top that I absolutely forgot about. It was a square block quilt that I had begun, so, so many years ago. I am not sure if this was before or after my Texas Star quilt.
From what I can tell it began as a 9 patch quilt block. Then several years ago I had sewn the squares together to make a quilt top. I think I was going to make this as a doll quilt, as it has turned out quite small. The quilt block colors decently match as well. I do not remember where this fabric came from. It is probably just as old as I am. I know it was fabric that was handed down to me from either my mom or grandmother. I know I did not pick it out myself.
As I was trying to iron this quilt top, I discovered that I had hand sewn some pieces together and machine sewn others. Seam allowances are not a consistent quarter inch. Some are larger and some are quite a bit smaller which is why they blocks do not match up. This was definitely a quilt that I started long before I acquired a Bernina Sewing machine. I vaguely remember trying to sew the blocks together on an older second hand sewing machine. I always had issues with tension and thread breaking, which I always attributed to the fact that it was a crappy machine. However, I am now learning that it might have been the cheap fabric and cheap thread that had caused all of my frustration, not the sewing machine.
After I completed ironing the quilt top, I decided that instead of trying to fix all the imperfections, I was going to keep everything the way it was. I like seeing the old vintage style fabric with the squares not lining up. It serves as inspiration; Where I have come from, and how much I have learned through out the years. There was enough fabric to create a pillow as well. I quilted the pillow before stuffing it and have machine quilted the quilt top. It is not perfect, but that is just what I wanted. I am going to keep this quilt and pillow in my sewing area. It will help me slow down on future projects so that I can complete them correctly and it will serve as a reminder of what not to do. I learn a lot from mistakes and just trying new things.
