Finishes

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Things I've Learned Lately.....


These past few days I have been working on different things
and have been trying new and different ways to do them.

First,
I finished two more pair of children's socks to be donated.


I am a double pointed needle sock knitter,
but decided to try the Magic Loop that I've read about
and a friend uses.
Well... I don't know if it's because I've used dpn's for so long
or if there is a step I am missing with the magic loop,
but I am not a fan of the magic loop at all.
The cable would get twisted around my hand,
it took longer to get the stitches back onto the needle
after moving the cable around
and it felt very cumbersome.
Back to the dpn's I go.



Second,
I am quilting my Bible book blocks quilt myself.
This is the largest quilt I've quilted on my sewing machine.




 After marking, manipulating, sewing,
manipulating some more, etc.
it became obvious to me that I should have used
black batting in this quilt.




Look at all of the batting fuzz on this black fabric!
 It will get washed after I'm finished,
but it would have been better with black batting.
Never thought of it.

 

Onward I will go, though.


Third,
in quilting my Bible book blocks quilt,
I decided to try using some rulers in the quilting.
While I am definitely a rookie in this area,
I am enjoying using the rulers and will do more of this.

I have a stitch regulator for my Bernina (BSR)
and have quilted with that for several years now.
When using the rulers,
I have to use the ruler FMQ foot,
which requires using the foot pedal to power the machine.
I have found that I have much more control using this foot
and the foot pedal as opposed to the BSR.
The BSR is powered by moving the fabric....
the faster I move the fabric, the faster it quilts.
The problem for me is to turn the BSR on and off,
a button needs to be pushed.
To push the button, I have to let go of the quilted piece
and it almost always moves on me.


I also realized when using the FMQ foot,
I have more control over the movement of everything.
It isn't as "loose" as it is with the BSR.
When doing meander or loops,
the BSR is great because of the speed of which I can quilt.
Otherwise, I may be a FMQ foot girl from now on when quilting.

So,
sometimes an old dog can learn new tricks
and other times, not!

Hopefully I'll have a quilted Bible book blocks quilt to show soon.
It's coming along!

Happy Quilting!
(and learning!)
















7 comments:

  1. Kudos for trying new things! The downside of black batting might have been shadowing behind the white background fabrics so don't beat yourself up over it.

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  2. I have a BSR and I can use the foot pedal with it. Also the push button, but I don't like that for the reason you mentioned. The speed of moving the quilt under the needle determines the speed of the machine, but as long as I'm stepping on the foot pedal it will go. If I let off the foot pedal it stops. I wonder if your BSR model might work this way too? (mine is the 770 QE)

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  3. My brain is tired just reading about the learning going on there. ;-) I'm sure that I would not have thought to use the black batting either. Looking forward to seeing the finish.

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  4. I am amazed at your beautiful quilting. Oh, the wreath, the ruler work, and the determination. I love it. Sorry about your batting.

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  5. I can't even finish one sock and you have all these socks! I need to focus and figure out where I am on the pattern. I have huge feet and at least I am past the heel! I never think of black batting either!

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  6. Wow!You did great. It isn't easy tackling a big quilt. I have a good magic brush that I use on dark fabrics to get the stray threads and lint off. It works great.
    You have been quite busy with all these projects.

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  7. Well done with the quilting on your domestic machine. The guy looked at me like I was crazy when I told him I didn't want the stitch regulator, I had done enough free motion quilting that I didnt think I needed it. I think it is for small work on smalll quilts not big quilts where you are hanging onto the whole quilt, moving the whole quilt and then to add rulers for curves and straight lines. Your feathers look great!!!! next time you could use a colored thread to really show off your fmq.
    Good for you!!!

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