I sew and quilt every weekday morning. It seems like a big effort to switch from piecing to quilting (it's not really, but it *seems* that way).
So I have a habit of going on a long binge of piecing and quilt-top making, then I switch gears as the unfinished tops start accumulating.
I'm one of those annoying 'finishers' you've heard about. It just about drives me crazy knowing that there are unfinished projects lurking on those workroom shelves I mentioned last time.
So, once a project makes it off the shelves, the intent is to stay on track until it's done. It doesn't go back on the storage shelf unfinished.
I mentioned this project (below) a couple weeks ago, when it came out of one of those 'magic' storage boxes on the shelf and went with me to a sewing retreat. This weekend, it got pin basted to prepare it for quilting. There are three other quilt tops in the wings for completion before I will allow myself to switch back to making tops.
I like to finish my own quilts - I enjoy the whole process, start to finish. No long-arm machine here, so I prefer pin-basting to secure the layers over other methods because the basting gives me alone-time with the quilt to consider the next steps - specifically the quilting. Plus the pins are removed as sections are completed, leaving a clear indication of what still needs quilting. The pins are a visual score card - this part's done, that part isn't.
Lately, to finish things up quickly, I have been following an easy pattern of alternating straight and serpentine machine lines to secure the layers.
Before you think, "Wow, how does she keep all those back-and-forth jiggles so even!" I don't. It's just a sewing machine stitch stretched out. Both the straight stitch and the serpentine are done with the walking foot, top edge to bottom edge. Stitch number 4 on my Bernina, with a stitch length adjustment. I just set up the stitch and drive in straight lines.
After about an hour of quilting, almost one half of one vertical row of blocks (there are three vertical rows on this quilt) are done. It'll be time for binding soon, next week, most likely.
This quilting strategy may not highlight the blocks as well as other techniques, but it's relatively fast, it's tidy, it's functional, and line quilting is on trend. So, I'm good with it.
In the 'wings': those three quilts I mentioned already - one is basted , and the other two need pins to be freed up before it's their basting turn. Then quilting.
Unless, of course, I fall 'off the wagon' and switch gears again.
Happy Stitching!
Head Hummingbird
Hummingbird-Highway.com
Leave a Reply