Wanna talk about Quilting? in Category-Specific Boards in Community

Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 5:08 AM

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The topic of Machine Quilting came up on the free motion embroidery thread so I thought I'd start a thread for Quilting. We can talk about all things Quilty and share things that make Quilting easier and fun!

I'm a self taught hand quilter who is trying to learn the art of machine quilting on a regular sewing machine. There are several reasons I'd like to become more skilled at it but the main one is because my fingers can't take the needle sticks anymore. Machine quilting is not as easy as I thought it would be and I get so frustrated sometimes.

This summer my folks had an old table they wanted to get rid of so I had my dad cut a hole in it and put a platform in to hold my sewing machine. I also had him cut some plexiglass to fit around the machine so I could have a large flat surface to practice my sewing. I love it and it helps alot!

So far I like the free motion better than using a walking foot. I can do stipple or meandering patterns fairly decent but if I try to quilt in the ditch with the darning foot well I get all wavy LOL.

I love the look of hand quilting and it's my trusted stand by. When looking at quilts I always want to look at the backs more than the front. I love to look at the old whole top quilts in Quilt books. The beauty of all those tiny stitches just blow me away!

Hope to hear from more Quilters!!

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Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 5:46 AM

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Don't we always, heartland? I'm a non-traditional quilter, more of a folk artist really. I don't like the quilting part either by machine or hand. I like the designing, the buying fabric and the applique. No wait, I'm not crazy about the applique either :o)

Maybe when my kids are a little older and I have more time I will be able to practice more and appreciate the quilting part of quilting. I'm a rogue.

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 7:01 AM

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I'm kind of a semi-quilter (if there is such a thing), lol. I don't do a lot of quilting but every once
in a while I just want to make a quilt. I like whole cloth quilting, paper piecing and strip quilting.
I mainly stitch in the ditch, but I cheat, hehehe.....I use the serpentine stitch. Looks good and
noboby is the wiser.

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 9:03 AM

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I sew. I'm really not much of a quilter as I prefer to make garments.

I have two quandaries on the horizon...my grandmother's 89th birthday in November and my mother's 65th birthday (and her retirement from work) in December...

I would love to make them quilts...I have enough fabric to fashion them (Lord knows...I have more fabric than 10 sewers could use in their lifetimes)...I'm just not sure it's the right thing to do for them.

One problem is that my grandmother is nearly completely blind. The other problem is that they are both pretty "set in their ways" and very hard to please...

The other day, in spite of my burgeoning stash, I purchased some Michael Miller prints...Home Ec being the main one, but also some with 50's fashions. I so want to make that up for my grandmother...but I wonder if it would be more about my memories of her, than her being able to see the print and the quilt?

Am I wasting my time or should I get cracking with the scissors and sewing machine?

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 10:58 AM

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Hi to all. I'm Linnea and I've been quilting about 12 years and sewing for 50 years. I belong to two quilt groups and those gals are much better and quiltier than I am. I have learned that with machine quilting you must use cotton batting. The fabric sticks to it so much better than the poly. And if you get wavy, keep loosening your presser foot pressure till it gets non-wavy. I know it doesn't always work out. I don't like using a walking foot, just never had much luck with them. I prefer just a plain zigzag foot so I can see what I'm doing. Kinda.
I'm afraid I'm headed to the cramped hand soon too. But I love hand quilting and applique and most of all, I think, I like looking at pictures in the books and catalogues!!

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 12:42 PM

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I've done a few small pieces, nothing large yet.
So far, machine quilting works fine for me. Thanks Linnea, for the tip about the cotton batting. I've just bought whatever was available in the local store. That could very well explain why some pieces have been easier than others.

I want to choose something simple for my first large quilt and I'd planned to use that quilt as you go method (I think some people do lap quilting like this too). I know a lot of people don't like it because of the seams in the back, but I don't mind that for now.

I'm also interested in paper piecing but I haven't tried it. I'm self taught.

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 3:25 PM

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Hi, I'm Jo and have been sewing for over 50 years and have quilted occasionally for about 25. While working at a fabric store, I met many quilters and got carried away by their enthusiasm. Sewing is my passion and I was spending too much time in my sewing room, away from the kids. So I brought home a quilt booklet that had twelve different blocks to lap quilt, which could be done while watching tv with the kids. I stitched every block by hand and quilted it by hand and then, finally, after five years and piddling around with the last couple blocks, sewed it together. It wasn't very big so I decided to add a wide machine channel quilted piece until my daughter said but then it won't be special, it won't be all hand done. Off came the wider piece and I finished it the original size. I don't like the eighties colors in it, rust, navy and cream but I love that it is all hand sewn. My quilting stitches leave much to be desired and are not at all close together. It was thrown over the back of a rocking chair for awhile and has become faded except for one or two of the blocks.

I have a friend who strip pieces quilts lickety split and has a wonderful sense of color. Watching her always gets me thinking about making another quilt.

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 4:08 PM

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pins-n-needles:

If your Grandmother is blind, why don't you make somthing out of a fabric with texture, like velvet? I vest would be comparatively easy, but a lap quilt would be really something!

Marion

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 5:16 PM

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Great to see all the posts! I've tried a little paper piecing but always end up with the back looking icky. I guess I didn't cut my pieces right?

pins-n-needles, I had the same thought as blackbird!

OTOH if the fabric you've picked out brings back fond memories of your grandmother would she be very touched after you tell her all about it and why it holds so many memories of her? If my grandmother were still and in your grandmothers shoes I know she would love to wrap up in so much love :0)

silverthimble - what's a serpentine stitch. So far Zig Zag and Satin Stitch are as adventurous as I've gotten LOL.

hee TVT, one of these days you'll find your way to the dark side

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 6:08 PM

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Hello All,
Quilting? I have about 8 in various stages of completion. I have tried machine quilting and don't really like it. Right now I am finishing an antique top. It is a flower garden. The flowers were appliqued to muslin squares. I found muslin from approx. the same era and am appliquing the remaining flowers. The nice thing is that it is portable and I can do it almost anywhere. When I start sticking myself, I change my needle. I really believe that they become dull. When you are pushing the needle through the material and the needle is dull, the thread end sticks me in the finger. I am not much for thimbles, as we discussed on the corner, I am a tactile person. I like the feel of the material on my skin, thimbles take that away. I also don't wear gloves while gardening, I want the feel of the plants and the dirt. The most I will do is tape my fingers with white medical tape to keep from pricking my finger and bleeding on my quilt. That's what they mean by putting your blood and sweat into it.
Scouter

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 6:22 PM

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I'm so dense, I wouldn't have thought about trying to get muslin of the same era as a top.

Ouch scouter I couldn't do the needle rocking without a thimble! I started out that way before I had a thimble and couldn't hack it.

I'm the same way with my fingers on the underside of the quilt. I've tried the different thimbles for my fingers but I have to 'feel' the tip of the needle come through. I alternate between my index, 3rd & 4th fingers but they get pretty beat up. I've tried tape too but the only thing I've found that I can get by with is super glue. Nu-Skin doesn't get hard enough to stop the needle from sticking me.

Do you like to use a frame? I'm a hoop person myself. I've got a Q-snap and Ulmer Quilt Frame but I like the hoop better. I can hold the quilt close and see what I'm doing better.

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 7:00 PM

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Heart,
I use a hoop, don't have the room for frame although I have a frame still in a box I got from a flea market for $2.00. Can you believe it? A nice older man sold it to me for $2.00. But it is still in the box, I haven't taken it out. I don't know the name of the hoop, I will have to look. I never thought of trying super glue, when I start to quilt the top, I will try it. I was lucky enough to have found a vintage piece of muslin, I ripped it into squares just like the original and I removed the few flowers that were on the originals because that muslin was terribly stained and damaged and I have appliqued all the flowers to better vintage muslin just like the original seamstress intended. I will post a picture tomorrow if I can of one of them to show you.
How many needles do you use on a top? I found that if it's small, like 36 by 36, I use 2-3. I probably use 15 on a larger top. Try changing your needles more often and/or sharpen them yourself on a whetstone.
Scouter

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 11, 2002 7:22 PM

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I'd LOVE to see a picture! I think I snap the needles before they get dull. I go through close to 40 needles/top. I really like the Piecemakers size 12 needles because I seem to get a small stitch. I tend to keep the top to taunt in the hoop but I'm getting better at loosening up. I can tell right away when I've got it to tight because I snap my needle right away.

Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 12, 2002 2:22 PM

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Hi Heart,
I scanned a couple squares and boy was I wrong, they are dresden plates. I also got flower garden piece from the same quilter. I tried to show a closeup on the last pic that she sewed all these pieces together by hand, not a machine stitch in the bunch. Then she folded the edges under and sewed the seam by hand. I was just amazed. Now that I look at some of these prints, I'll bet some of them were feedsacks. Maybe Pat will drop in and verify it for me.

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Re: Wanna talk about Quilting?

Sep 12, 2002 2:40 PM

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Hoping these are a little closer but I don't know.

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