Wednesday, May 25, 2022

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).

3 comments:

Debby Gorman said...

Shredding thread is the most frustrating thing! Luckily you have already figured out the thread your machine prefers. Your quilt is beautiful, good luck with the quilting!

Mary in Maryland said...

I believe you have the same machine as I do. Mine loves both Aurifil and Coats and Clark trilobal polyester.

Melisa- pinkernpunkinquilting said...

This quilt is a beauty. So sorry that you had thread problems. My machine is finicky about threads too. Wishing you the best in quilting.