This week I finished machine quilting a Valentine's quilt and today I have the pure enjoyment of finishing this quilt.
First I removed the Frixion quilting lines with a hot iron. I have heard many times from people that don't like these pens, but I love them, and have not had any issues with them so far. I've only tested this product for several years though, so check back with me 20 years from now and we'll see how I feel about them then! LOL
Today I will be stitching in all the thread tails by pulling all the threads to the back of the quilt, threading two at a time (bobbin and top thread) in a needle, tying a knot, and pulling the knot between the layers and popping it into the batting (tutorial here). And then I'll hand stitch the binding to the back of the quilt.And as I stitch, I am going to listen to some old Stuart McLean podcasts. Stuart was the beloved host of a CBC radio show called Vinyl Cafe and I was so sad to hear of his death this week. Over the years I have enjoyed countless hours of slow stitching while listening to his unique slow storytelling. I was also lucky enough to see two of Stuart's live Christmas productions and was inspired by his creativity and humour, and by his commitment to the development of Canadian talent. You can read some wonderful tributes to Stuart here.
Enjoy every slow stitch!
An InLinkz Link-up
14 comments:
I listen to Stuart when I sew too. He always brought a smile to my face with his stories! I will continue to listen to his stories.
Thanks for the link on how to bury those pesky ends! I've never heard of Stuart McLean but I will investigate him. We have something called Desert Island Disc in the uk and I often catch up on podcasts and sew!
Thanks for this linky... I guess I am lazy when machine quilting and just backstitch a bit and trip the tails at that point instead of knotting and burying them more professionally.. thanks for the tutorial link though :) I am so happy to have a post to link up today also! Thanks for sticking around !! :) Kathi
Lovely quilting...I will check out that link! :)
Turned out great!!!
I haven't tried a Frixion Pen yet for marking. I've seen a lot of people mention they now use washable Crayons for marking. I'm scared to try that since I remember my kids scribbling on the wall and how difficult it was to get that off. I guess that's why they now make washable crayons!
I bury knots when hand quilting - it seems part of the natural process. But, for some reason I hate burying them when machine quilting - it seems like drudgery.
Sweet Quilt, enjoy your stitching today.
I love those cute little heart blocks. I use my Frixion pens often too.
Kathy, your Valentine quilt is beautiful. Love the colors and quilt designs. Blessings from Sue at blessingsofthreads.blogspot.com
I've used the Frixion pens for years, also. Recently I did have an issue. I used it on darker fabric for the first time and sure enough upon ironing it out, there was a faint white line where I had marked my quilt. But it doesn't show on white, so I'll keep using them for lighter fabric. I'm lucky my Juki has a cutting feature. So I start my machine stitch line the usual way: bring the back thread up on the first stitch, take 4 teeny tiny stitches (not in place so I don't get a knot) and then finish the line, motif, etc. When I come to where I need to stop, I reverse the process: take 4 teeny tiny stitches, raise the needle, pull the quilt top to the side and activate to cut feature. I, then (if it's not at a side of the quilt) with the top thread tug up [I hear a tiny pop] the bottom thread and cut it level with the top. The theory is that now the bottom thread is in the batting and the tiny stitches is the same as a knot.
I used frixon pens and thought they were so convenient. I drew some quilting lines on white fabric and they iron right out. However, we went away for a few days during the very cold weather and the lines were back again. They never really go away until washable blue pen. I tried various methods of ironing and washing the markings out then put the quilt in the fridge to cool it and the lines appeared again. i have a friend in Sweden who will not use frixon pens as the markings always return. (cold there!) To me, even if you don't put the quilt in the fridge, you know the markings are still there and are perhaps damaging the quilt. A further thought is if one ships a quilt to a quilt show and it is cold in transit-lines back again. Thats just my 2 cents for what it us worth.
Thanks for the tutorial as I will be doing some machine quilting soon and will need to understand this process. Since I live on the other side of Lake St. Clair, I was unfamiliar with Stuart McLean. I will remedy that and listen to his podcasts.
Love your Valentine's quilt. Thanks for sharing the tutorial, I book marked it for future use.
I saw the little travel pouch you made on "The Cozy Quilter" site--did you have a pattern for it? It is lovely...hugs, Julierose
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