For one thing, I have a very large Orange and Cherry Jubilee that has sat on the shelf for over a year. Remember that one? That was the one where I messed up on the block placement and I became disgusted with myself. And there is the problem of quilting such a large quilt. (I couldn't even lay it out flat to take a picture. The room is too small.) There are NO long arm quilters in Japan. This means I have to do it myself. Elaine has been machine quilting large quilts on her domestic machine but she says her machine has a 9 inch throat. I measured mine... Mine has a 7 inch throat. Even with little quilts I will almost always get a pucker in there and so I shudder to think what would happen with a large quilt. But with the Feather still on the quilting hoop, I'm not too anxious to hand quilt the Orange and Cherry Jubilee. (Another two years of quilting?)So why would I want to start ANOTHER large quilt that wouldn't be able to get quilted? And even if I did start, what do I want to make?
On Saturday I went up to the sewing room for fabric therapy. What IS all this stuff coming out of the drawers and baskets? The crumb basket is overflowing and most of that stuff is unusable! But can I really just toss it? No. So I spent HOURS cutting the crumbs into 3 1/2 inch strips and squares, 2 1/2 inch strips and squares and 2 inch strips and squares. This is called mindless procrastination. I made a DENT.
Why do I keep cutting up strips and squares? I fell in love with Bonnie's Scrap User system but I seem to be SAVING, not USING! So yesterday I started chain stitching and making 16 patches. I think I've started a Patch and Pinwheel quilt and it will eventually have to take its place in the quilting line. Any quilting advice?
14 comments:
Hm - time for another hoop? Mail it to a quilting in the US? Um, quilt without a hoop? [I never use a hoop]. Tie it?
I'm in the same slump. Got lots I need to do, nothing I WANT to do.
Tie the quilt? The first quilt I made I tied it first and then quilted certain areas. I wish I had learned to tie the quilt like the lady in this video. I cut and tied each tie individually. This looks much faster. Do you tie quilts?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI6AcTqr-YM
I can't see anything wrong with the Jubilee quilt. In fact I like the idea of not having a quilt be perfect. Love the colors!
What about a combination of hand and machine quilting? Maybe hand quilting straight down the light 4 patch blocks and then some free motion in the orange blocks?
Maybe you could bring it with you when you next visit CA and have it quilted. Or, some quilt shops in the larger cities have longarms that they rent out by the hour... they give you a lesson on it and then you take off. You could do a simple meander that could be done in a reasonable amount of time. It's a beautiful quilt top.
Either tying, or using Perle 8 cotton and quilting with bigger stitches, that goes quite quickly. Mind you, I've never tried quilting with a hoop. Perhaps you could try quilting without a hoop too, quite easy with bigger stitches I would think.
What about doing 'quilt as you go'
Does mean a few more joins on the back but they are almost invisible anyway. There are many versions of QAYG and you would find a lot if you just google it.
Regards
Marie
So why don't you become the first longarm quilter in Japan? I know that it is a large investment, but think of the rewards! Just a thought.
You might give some thought to (see above) the Quilt as you Go, or Quiltig in Sections. Marti Machell has a book where she only quilts a section. You could plan your quilt design ahead of time and do a panel at a time, finishing up with only a little bit of quilting to do where you sewed the panels together. My first quilts were Georgia Bonesteel designed, and I did QAYG, quilting one block at a time, then sewing them into rows, etc. Worked OK for me.
Or ... ah hem - look at the newest machines that have up to 11 inches of space!
That large quilt is gorgeous. Is there any way you can unsew it to make it into manageable halves or fourths?
That is an "oldie" but goodie...I made two of them and both went to the machine quilter. Mine were made smaller though, I think, anyway....
You are coming here to the U.S. why not leave it at a quilter for simple meandering to be done (cheaper than designs)... then get the finished quilt yourself the next year or if one of the kids come to visit maybe they could bring it along with them.
Lots of good ideas here. We have people here who will hand quilt a quilt for you. Can you find a friend who is willing to do the job? Or maybe you can have a quilting bee?
I used Bonnie's scrap saver system for a while, before I had to move my sewing stuff out of our extra bedroom. I didn't make any astoundingly beautiful quilts with it, but did several passable tops, which were donated to an online charitable quilting group. Some members prefer to make tops (like me) and some prefer to quilt. Either way, I used up some fabric, was able to busy myself with interesting, but not too-intricate piecing, didn't have to quilt anything, and the tops helped needy children. You wouldn't want to do this with the tops you've already started and have plans for, but if you're just looking for a way to use your scraps, it's an option.
Sarah
When I use 505 basting spray and quilt it on my regular machine I almost never get any puckers on the reverse side.
I am not a very good BIG quilt quilter, BUT i have done a few in quarters, then put them together with the Quilt as you go method! never more than a big wall hanging in the machine, until the last seam, makes the big quilts a possibilty......Bonnie
It's been ages since I've tackled a really big quilt and at that I'm not sure I'd try and stuff the whole thing under a domestic machine. I like the suggestion of doing half machine and half hand quilting...I've done that before and it works well.
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