Machine Quilting Started

I'm so chuffed to be machine quilting my April and May UFO - finally!  This quilt is so large that I used ALL the pins I owned to pin baste it.

One of my favourite tasks is picking the threads. I found these colours to start with in the centre, and I wound 3 bobbins to start. Isn't that a pretty colour (#2880) to match the backing fabric?!?

Then I pooled the quilt on the machine bed around the needle area. Working in the centre of a big quilt is the hardest part of quilting on a domestic sewing machine.

I was so proud that I had worked out in my mind a continuous line of quilting for the cranberry fabrics. And then the thread started shredding! What should have been quick and fun became  frustrating and slow. I should have known better because my machine prefers Aurifil thread. This was not Aurifil, but it was the best colour. Lesson learned. Again.

I persevered with several starts and stops, and was able to finish the centre. It will be easier quilting now as I will quilt each successive border moving toward the outer edges of the quilt and use only Aurifil thread (no afflilation, just a very happy customer).