Friday, January 26, 2018

Machine Quilting

I have been machine quilting my UFO of the month and having a great time with a free motion swirly design. Many quilters don't enjoy machine quilting, but I have to admit that I love it. It's really fun when everything goes well. And with time and practice, it almost always goes well. My goal is to have fairly even stitch lengths, no puckers or folds in the quilt top or backing, smooth design movements and no skipped stitches or thread snaps.

Through trial and error I have learned exactly what my machine likes. And since the machine is the boss of me, I do everything required to make things run smoothly for the process, including using my machine's favourite needles (topstitch 90), threads (exclusively Aurifil 50), feet (a very old Brother stippling foot), and quilting speed (not too fast). I also know that the quilting needs to start in the middle of the quilt and work slowly in a circular way toward the outside of the quilt to push any excess fabric to the edges. If the quilt has been basted really well, there won't be any excess, but that rarely happens (for me).


The Friday Night Quilters are coming over tonight, so we'll see what mischief we can get into. So happy to be feeling like myself again after the horrendous influenza experience earlier this month.

Have a great day!

15 comments:

Julierose said...

So happy to hear you are feeling better ;)) isn't the flu terrible? I am coming along pretty well, just coughing a bit at night...ugh
Anyway I have never tried free motion anything...I love how that quilting looks though...hugs, Julierose

Deb A said...

Great job on the quilt and have fun tonight with the friday night ladies.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I like to party in my quilt room, too. Have fun tonight!

Robin said...

I like the way you party!

barbara woods said...

isn't free motion fun? I love being able to do it all even if it will never be mine at least as good as the long arm do it

Mary said...

Glad you are feeling better! I'm trying to keep that dreaded flu away. Fun to stitch away the hours. Have a great time stitching with your friends tonight.

Cathy said...

I like your version of a party girl!

I don't like machine quilting...maybe because I'm not good at it? Or maybe because I don't have Aurifil thread? Or because I don't like quilt wrestling?

The Cozy Quilter said...

Sounds like my kind of party! That flu this year is nasty! I'm glad it is behind you now. Party on!

Janet O. said...

So glad to hear you are up and at it again, Kathy!
Your machine has you following good rules. They work for me!
Have fun tonight. Wish I could drop by!

Jacqui's Quilts said...

So glad to see your posts this week that you are quilting again :-). I had a cold for a week too, but didn't have it as bad as you did!! Your post makes me itch to get back at quilting table runners..so much fun. I'm in the boring process of sewing sashings between my 150 Canada blocks! I hate that process, but have set myself a deadline to finish it and the borders by the end of next week. It's queen size so is going to a long arm quilter. Thankful for that LOL. I don't enjoy wrestling queen sized quilts through my machine. Your quilt is looking good!

piecefulwendy said...

Glad you are feeling yourself again and past that nasty flu bug. So, when you quilt, do you spray baste or pin baste? I'm still in the very early learning stages of free motion. I have gotten to the point where it's not scaring me nearly as much. Haha! I appreciate how well you keep going on your projects, and I enjoy seeing your progress.

Louise said...

What an upbeat post, Kathy! I admit I like to machine quilt, too. Once you get the hang of it, it's so satisfying to finish the entire quilt by yourself. And I'm so glad that you're healthy again, hooray!

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

Great to see you up and running! I like your quilting on the Domestic. I tried doing it when I first started quilting, but the brain, hands, and eyes would not cooperate! LOL I have a Handi Quilter and when the body is cooperating I quilt on it! Have a wonderful week-end. Stay healthy!

Deanna W said...

Hooray....not sick anymore! Glad you are back blogging...missed your daily goings-on! Going to be machine quilting myself this weekend...hopefully will have something to show tomorrow and will be slow stitching the binding down or maybe just hand quilting!

Kate said...

Glad you are feeling much better. I've heard from several at work who said the flu this year is the worst they have ever had. Good luck with the quilting. Looks like you are making great progress on getting another UFO off the list.