I am aching to wrap up the four quilts that emerged from a pizza box that stayed on my storage shelves for years. All four quilts are almost done. Almost.
I would really like to talk about something else for a change. I'm sure that would make you happier, too!
Last week, I mentioned that I wanted to use these quilting rulers for the third of the four quilts in line for completion. I've never used quilting rulers before, and did a little research on using them on my domestic machine. I have the correct ruler foot and a machine that should accommodate the process, so . . .
Welp. Here goes. . .
I tried the ruler with a simple curve to make a flower-ish pattern in the center of the sawtooth star blocks.
From a distance, doesn't look too bad. . .
However, on closer inspection, it looks like doo-doo!
The center is all over the place, stitches go from mondo huge to microscopic, and the lines don't follow the template very well. I convinced myself that it'll get better as I go a long.
Yeah, that didn't play out.
Five of the twelve block centers looked pretty much the same as this one at which point, I called it. Out came the seam ripper for some reverse sewing and a re-boot.
I need a LOT more practice with rulers! And maybe a lesson or class on this technique.
Since I'm very comfortable with free-motion quilting. I went back to my comfort zone, once stitch-reversal was complete.
Here is one of the revised blocks (opposite value points and background from the block above).
And, a couple of close-ups.
Especially when time is a factor (I do indeed wish to be done with these quilts before too much longer), comfortable techniques should have been the obvious choice. All twelve block centers are complete, in a quarter of the time it took to ruler-botch five block centers and reverse-sew them. About a quarter of the block backgrounds are quilted now, too. Happily, I'll be measuring binding for this quilt before the weekend.
I'll pick up the rulers again on another day, maybe on a smaller project - or maybe not - we'll see. I like the concept and the potential results, but it's gonna take a little more commitment on my part before I'm comfortable with this skill.
Sometimes, it's best to go backwards to move ahead.
Happy Stitching!
Head Hummingbird
Hummingbird-Highway.com
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