With the front and back completed, it was time to get quilting!
The batting I had on hand was almost big enough to fit the quilt, but not quite, so the first thing I did was abutt and attach some additional batting.
![Abbuting Batting](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4491624741_2b08122338.jpg)
Once my batting was ready, I taped my back to the (clean) floor...
![Blue Clear Sky](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4649177618_82d46fe5c3.jpg)
...layered with batting...
![Blue Clear Sky](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4649177636_3a0a2e3212.jpg)
...and the top.
![Blue Clear Sky](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4649177676_a18e184032.jpg)
Taped down the top edges and pin basted the whole sandwich together.
![Blue Clear Sky](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3399/4648561607_d854b02f10.jpg)
Then I pulled the tape off and was ready to quilt!
![Blue Clear Sky](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3399/4648561659_913c2aa813.jpg)
And here, here I had big plans. I had decided to quilt in big, swoopy, loop-de-loops. It was going to be gorgeous and freeform and awesome. Of course, I'd never free motion quilted before, but how hard could it be?
I pulled out my machine's manual, lowered the feed dogs, and quilted a sample. Not too bad.
![Blue Clear Sky](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4648561805_63eea8e7f5.jpg)
So I jumped in.
![Blue Clear Sky](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4648561891_5905af2b1a.jpg)
Half a quilt later it was...awful. My stitches were jerky and inconsistent. If I left the feed dogs down, I couldn't control my speed. With them up, I couldn't control my direction well enough for large loops.
So I decided this was not the project to practice on and pulled out my seam ripper.
![Blue Clear Sky](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4649178266_32633e239d.jpg)
And tried again. This time with free handed "straight" lines.
![Blue Clear Sky](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4648563225_95af6c9f80.jpg)
It's not going to win me any awards, but it has its own wonky charm. And heck, maybe that means it won't be "too pretty to use"! ; )
But the best part was when I discovered, upon starting in on a second spool of thread, that that thread I thought was so awesomely perfect was actually machine embroidery thread. Since I realized this well into the process and it seemed to be okay, I kept with it. Here's hoping that wasn't a really bad idea.
With the quilting done, I just needed to get it bound and labeled before I shipped it off to the happy parents-to-be!
The only thing you need to be careful with in using embroidery thread is the weight. Quilting cotton is about a 40/2 (wt/strands) so a similar weight embroidery thread works just fine. If your embroidery thread is a 60wt (higher # = thinner), you might run into trouble with tangling or breaking if your quilting stitches are fast, or the stitches might not be as sturdy with heavy use. I imagine you'll be fine with the tiny stitches you get from a straight line :)
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of taping it to the floor, what a fabulous tip! It looked like you used painter's tape?
ReplyDeleteJulie--thanks for the input! : ) I did notice it breaking more in my machine, but not so much it was unworkable.
ReplyDeleteAmanda--it really helps the pieces stay put while you are pinning! Just make sure not to pull too tight or you will have wrinkles when you untape it. I use painter's tape because I worry about damage to the table/floor otherwise. If it were a tile floor, you could use regular masking tape without worry. : )