Monday 27 May 2013

Three Finished Quilts

I have spent the last few weeks practising my free motion quilting skills. As a direct result of this, languishing quilt tops are finally being pulled out and finished. If this productivity continues  I may one day reach the point of having no WIPs! That really is very unlikely though. But I did finish three whole quilts this month, and managed to take a few photos this weekend.

First up is the Scrappy Trip to the Seaside. A scrappy trip quilt in low-volume seaside colours, made with blocks from members of the do. Good Stitches Care Circle, then quilted and finished by me. I chose a chevron-ish layout because I liked it best, and it's what I would have chosen if I had made my own scrappy trip quilt. Which I might just have to do now. I quilted it in happy little free motion loops, using the rows as a spacing guide, so no marking required, hurray! The back is a neutral cotton solid and binding is mostly Kona Caribbean, with a few aqua scraps pieced in for a bit of extra interest. This quilt is destined for Siblings Together and will be dropped off at the Fat Quarterly London Retreat this July.


Next up, a slightly smaller than planned Marcelle Medallion. I burned out and couldn't handle any more borders, so decided to finish it as it was. Conveniently enough, it fits perfectly on the chimney breast wall of my studio, where it has already been installed. I'm having an epic tidy-up in there today and will hopefully have pictures to share soon.



Last up is a quilt I feared would never see the light of day, my second Scrap Vomit. I lost interest in this quilt for several months, but finally finished the top this spring. It is the first quilt I free motion quilted and it made a great learning curve project. My lack of emotional attachment to it made the quilting a lot less daunting! Now that it is finished, I actually really like it. But I have only limited quilt space in my home and so many plans for future projects, so this one has gone to live with my parents.


5 comments:

  1. Great quilts! I need to brave and use my very basic FMQ skills to start getting some finished too! I love your loops!

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    1. Thank you! It really is a lot easier than I expected. I had been terrified to try to quilt anything for years, but I made it my mission to get some practice in this year. The secret is quilt tops you don't love. I also use a supreme slider and machingers gloves, made a huge difference to my stitch control!

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    2. What settings do you use on your machine (top and bottom tension?). I tried it once but the bottom tension was waaaaay tight but didn't want to mess with it as it does fine straight line stitching....

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    3. I never ever mess with the bottom tension (actually not sure it's possible to adjust it on my Pfaff) but I do turn the top tension up to 7 (my default is 5). Depends on fabric and batting though. The aim is to have identical stitches both sides but the bottom tension is still a bit tight if I'm going too fast. I also use a bobbin washer, which I believe improves my tension.

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  2. Your marcellemadellion is gorgeous

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