Quilting the Log Cabin

I haven't been quilting much lately - why is that a constant statement on this blog?  Jeez.  My school year is almost over and I'll have about three weeks before the baby is due, so I hope to get some progress done on these quilts...plus the baby blanket I still have to make for her...plus the baby blanket I have to make for my cousin...

...I should do less blogging and more sewing.

Anyway, I basted my scrappy log cabin quilt and finally got a start on quilting it.  I was stuck on how to quilt it...I figured straight lines would make the most sense since they would just follow the lines of the quilt.  But I'm planning on doing straight line stitching on my mom's Carpenter's Wheel quilt, and I didn't really want to be doing tons of straight line quilting.  That would be boring.

So I figured a free motion design might work well on this one.  I thought and thought about what to do and felt totally stuck.  I looked up free motion designs on Pinterest and Leah Day's blog, but nothing clicked.  Then I found a blog called The Inbox Jaunt where she posted free motion quilting tutorials where she stitched things that looked like real objects.  That kind of clicked for me...when I thought about how I wanted this quilt to be used, I thought about my kids snuggling under it for years to come.  I wanted them to be able to be able to look at the beautiful variety of fabrics I used to make it, but I also wanted them to be able to spend time cuddled under it, running their fingers over the quilting.  My daughter loves the pink and red quilt I made, which I quilted all over with spirals.  I thought they'd love this too.

Also, wow, was it ever nice to get my beautiful Singer 115 out of its cabinet.  I hadn't used it in forever!  Free motion quilting is such a pleasure on that machine...smooth, speedy, wonderful.  It's by far my favorite machine.

I used one of her tutorials (the flower one), but mostly I'm just making up pictures as I go.  It's like doodling with thread.  It's fun and low-stress, since the design is so busy that the quilting really isn't center-stage anyway.  It's slow but enjoyable.  I'm making flowers, some meandering lines, some shapes like hearts and concentric circles, phrases and words in cursive, and some random pictures.  It's kind of hard to photograph, but below you can see one of the things I did tonight - a happy cat.

It's a long way from perfect.  It's a long way from beautiful.  But if I can fill this quilt with designs like this one, I know I'll be so much better at the end than I was at the beginning.  That's really what it's about...that, and creating something cheerful, colorful, and warm that my husband and kids will use over and over again.

I think both of those goals will be met by the end.

Leaves and Berries

This evening I basted and quilted my mini-quilt.  Since it's just a wall hanging I didn't think it needed heavy quilting, like a quilt that's going to be cuddled, washed, and dragged around would.  I just quilted in the white areas and left the print areas alone.

The print is actually supposed to be leaves, stems, and berries.  You can't tell now that it's chopped up.  But I decided to replicate that in the quilting.

I don't know what all those lines are...maybe it was due to the fluorescent lights we have in the basement.  Anyway, the quilting is not really my taste, but I wanted to show off what the 115 could do.  Also, it was really fun.  I love drawing with thread and fabric.

I need to figure out how to include this more in my quilts.

Hopefully I'll have time to bind it this weekend.  Then, if I can get to the store for some more white thread (yes, that's how busy our lives have been lately, not even time to run to the craft store for thread!) I'll be able to do some work on my Floating Dresdens quilt.

Putting the 115 to work

I started work last week, but it was just meetings and teacher prep days.  This week the students started back, and oh my gosh, this year has kicked my butt so far.  I can't remember experiencing this level of disorganization...it's nuts. 

I'll figure it out - I always do - but I've been too tired to do much sewing in the evenings.  However, tonight I sat down and spent some quality time with my Singer 115 by doing some loopy quilting in the borders of my double slice quilt.

There are some tension issues to be dealt with.  It's pretty puckered, but I like my quilts to get crinkly in the wash, so that doesn't really bug me.  I do want to improve it before I quilt my Dresden plate quilt, though. 

I was clipping along quickly until I ran out of bobbin thread.  The tire on the bobbin winder is crumbling and unusable, so I can't wind any bobbins until I get the tire I ordered in the mail.  Also, I broke the treadle belt, so instead of using a leather treadle belt I've been using a pair of nylons to run the machine.  They work surprisingly well (and have been working surprisingly well for nearly a week), but I think I'll get less slippage when I use a real treadle belt. 

Thank goodness it's almost the weekend.  I'm completely worn out.

Practicing FMQ

I'm still getting acquainted with my Singer 115 so I haven't sewn any projects with it yet.  Right now I'm content to just practice.

 It runs so smoothly, it's amazing.  I was capable of free motion quilting on my Singer 27, but I had to use some muscle to move the quilt around.  I was putting a lot of tension on those poor threads!  This machine is so fluid, and such a pleasure to work with.

After making a lot of loops, swirls, and shapes I practiced doing some drawing and writing.

I also tried making a feather plume.  That will definitely require some practice!

I'm so excited.  And the deal I got on this machine is even better!  It was a fraction of the cost of fancy quilting machines...it was even less than the cheap ones you get at Target. 

I guess it's time to work up the courage to quilt that big Dresden block quilt. 

Spirals, spirals, spirals

This evening I finished the free motion quilting on my double slice quilt.  I like the texture these swirls give the quilt.  I can't wait to wash it - it'll be so crinkly!

The fabric isn't really green, it's just a poorly-lit shot with an iPod camera.

Even though I was having a good time by the end, this might be the last free motion project I do on my Singer 27.  On Saturday I'm going to go pick up a new (well, new to me, it's really over 90 years old) Singer model 115.  Because of the way the bobbin it situated it's very conducive to free motion quilting, so that will likely be my quilting machine, which means the 27 will be for piecing.

I know, it's kind of weird to have two machines for two different jobs.  But I usually have two or more projects that I'm working on at once, and I like the idea of having a machine all set up with the right thread, foot, and tension settings for whatever I'm doing. 

Of course, since space is limited in my little sewing corner of the basement, that means that my electric machine will have to be removed from its cabinet, put into a case, and stored on a shelf.  Not that long ago I was writing about being nervous about putting my modern Brother machine away and using nothing but vintage machines.  Now I'm going to have nothing set up but non-electric machines.  I guess my attitude has changed!

I still have to do some straight-line quilting on the border of the quilt, but then it'll be ready for binding.  Hopefully I can make friends with my new 115 by getting started on quilting my Dresden plate quilt.  I'm nervous about quilting that one, but nothing will get better by putting it off.

Oh, how I love thee

I'm really starting to love quilting on my Singer 27.  My treadling is getting smoother, my stitches are getting smaller and more even, and the spirals are getting smoother.  It'll be interesting to compare the quilting at the beginning of this quilt and the quilting I did at the end.  It's still not great, but it's getting there.  I have a few decades to perfect it before I'm too old to treadle (I imagine it'll be easier to use an electric when I'm in my 80s).

I read something a long time ago about people who are passionate about a hobby, and how their brains work differently when they get into their "zone."  That's how I feel when I'm quilting with my treadle...peaceful, centered, just...happy.

I still haven't tried free motion quilting with my 66.  I am getting annoyed at the limitations of how much thread that long bobbin can hold.  I had to refill it twice this evening.  Ugh. 

Spirals!

I resolved my feed dog issue and spent some time this evening making spirals of varying sizes on my double slice quilt.  Fun!

The only issue I've run into is that the bobbin on a vibrating shuttle machine doesn't hold as much thread as a round bobbin.  It's frustrating to stop and refill the bobbin.  I have three bobbins and I suppose I should just fill them all so I can switch them quickly.  Still, I'm thinking about trying FMQ on my Singer 66.

Boring antique sewing machine babble: from what I've heard a Singer 66 is not considered an ideal quilting machine.  That's because it has a drop-in bobbin, which means the bobbin thread has to come out of the bobbin and take a turn to go up into the machine.  This puts stress on the thread.  A great quilting machine is the Singer model 15...I have an electric one from the 1930s, but it needs to be rewired and I haven't used it yet.  I don't know how the thread path of a 66 compares to a vibrating shuttle machine, and which machine puts more stress on its thread.  Maybe if my 27 works, then my 66 would work too.  I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try, though it would be a pain to wrestle the 27 out of its cabinet and install the 66.  I suppose it'll just depend on how much I hate changing the bobbins out.

FMQ on a treadle

If you treadle and you want to find out more about free motion quilting on your machine, check out this tutorial. I followed a lot the advice and did some free motion quilting on my old Singer 27.  I was having some trouble with threads breaking so instead of a flowing design I decided to do a bunch of spirals.  That way the spiral would just end when the thread broke.  However, today I switched from cotton to polyester thread and that helped a lot.  The poly thread seems stronger and I was able to make bigger spirals that I knotted off instead of just allowing the thread to break.

Behold my work!

It's not pretty by any means - I can't do those beautiful, little, even stitches that other quilters do when free motion quilting.  But I know I'll only get better with practice, and really, it was easier to do FMQ on a treadle than on my electric.  I guess I have an easier time treadling and moving my hands at the same speed than I do controlling my foot pedal and moving my hands.

It's not great, but I did it!  On a treadle machine!  And a machine with a vibrating shuttle, too!

That's what's underneath my machine instead of a round bobbin.  Strange, huh?  This machine was my first treadle and I was shocked when I opened those slide plates and found that weird little bullet instead of a round bobbin.  At first I thought it might be some hidden evidence of a century-old murder, but no, it was just what they had for bobbins a hundred years ago.

Unfortunately, just as I was really going my needle snapped and the tip lodged itself in the feed dogs.  The screw holding that plate is stuck tight so I'll have to wait until tomorrow and try to get my husband to help it along.  Figures.  But I was having a lot of fun before then, so I'm looking forward to trying it again tomorrow.

Another try at free motion quilting

I've been trying and trying to do free motion quilting on my tumbling blocks quilt.  After a brief period of success last week I got stuck in a cycle:

Stitch on my quilt.
Flip it over.  Notice loops and tangles.
Rip it out.
Stitch on my quilt.
Flip it over.  Notice loops and tangles.
Rip it out.
Practice on a remnant.  It goes fine.
Stitch on my quilt.
Flip it over.  Notice loops and tangles.
Cry.

The time it went well last week I was stitching on the yellow part of my quilt.  But whenever I stitched on the blue border it went horribly.

Then one day I was ironing a small piece of that blue fabric for another project and I noticed a smell...a plastic, burning smell.

That fabric is polyester.

I have no idea if that affects the ability to do free motion quilting.  Maybe it does - whenever I stitched on the yellow fabric, which is cotton, it was okay.  I decided against ripping off the border, so now I'm just going to do a bunch of straight line stitching to quilt the borders together.  I still want to do free motion quilting in the yellow parts around the blocks.

And speaking of, yesterday I tried FMQ on my treadle for the first time.

It was okay.  No loops, anyway!  The thing on the side is supposed to be a plant, with a stalk and leaves.  I even put my name on it.  Not bad for a first try on the treadle.  The treadle was actually easier than the electric because I was able to go more slowly and have more control over the speed.  I can't wait to practice more and improve. 

Back in the saddle

This morning I sat down at my machine and decided to do something I've been putting off for a while. 

I practiced free motion quilting.

I actually started last night, but got frustrated and stopped.  I hate being patient with my sewing.  I think it's because I have two little children who require patience and a job that requires patience, so in my down time when I sew I just want it to work.  I hate ripping out seams, I hate re-doing things, and I hate practicing.  But I knew that if I didn't do some practice that I'd be doing more seam ripping and more re-doing, so I grabbed some scrap fabric and batting and gave it a try. 

I'd just like to put a little disclaimer here that it's totally possible to sew on a cheap machine.  I've done it!  But without a stitch regulator or the appropriate foot, it's harder.  So if you have a cheap machine, don't give up.  Or, if you truly can't do it on your machine, go vintage before you drop a grand or more at the sewing machine shop.  Many of those old sewing machines are built to handle this type of thing...it just takes some know-how to get it to work.

I got the hang of it this morning and grabbed my quilt before I forgot how to do it.  I did a section of free motion quilting - about five inches by ten inches in the border of my quilt.  The stitches aren't all even but the tension is right.  I was so relieved that it was going better!

And then my needle broke.

Oh well - it was nice to put the project away after having experienced some success.  I'll change the needle and try it again later. 

WIP Wednesday

My work in progress is my tumbling blocks quilt.  I'm so beyond frustrated with free motion quilting.

The thing that drives me crazy is that I've done FMQ on another quilt already.  I know I'm capable, and my machine is capable.  It's just not working this time!

I think I need to just go back and practice some more on scraps.  It's been months since I did FMQ and I think I've just forgotten how.  I've re-read some tutorials and I just need to sit down and try it again.

I've also been working on some mug rugs with my hand crank machine.  At least that's going okay.  I also started cutting pieces for my next quilt, which will have lots of Dresden plate flowers.  I'll start that as soon as I'm done with my tumbling blocks quilt. 

I should get going on that.

Rail Fence Done!

I'm on spring break now, so I finally finished my rail fence quilt.  I got a jelly roll of Ruby for Moda fabric for Christmas, and this seemed like a good way to utilize all those pre-cut strips.

It's a nice throw quilt size.  In fact, it's been passed around from person to person since I made it.  It looks really bright and cheerful on the wooden rocking chair in my living room, but it hardly ever gets to rest there since it seems like someone always wants to curl up underneath it.

I did free motion quilting all over it - just squiggles.  It was hard at first but after many snapped threads and a few broken needles, I got the hang of it.  I think the reason it's so popular in my house is that it acquired a lovely crinkly texture after I washed it thanks to all those squiggles.

And all that sewing was done wtih a 45 year old machine that I got for eight bucks at a thrift store.  Score!

Here's the obligatory folded-up shot.  It seems like a lot of quilt bloggers like to take a photo of the quilt folded up.  Maybe to show off the binding?  Anyway, I'm not so good at binding, so let's just move on.

I love this quilt and I'm going to make a few more similar-sized throws.  My next one will be in fabric that's a 1930s reproduction print.  I can't wait!