First Attempt at Free Motion

Or how a gentle meander became a full blown storm

Until I made this quilt last year, I had stuck to stitch-in-the-ditch and straight line quilting, but I was dying to try out my Bernina Stitch Regulator. This is a little device that you attach to the machine and it basically keeps up with you when you do free motion quilting. If you move the quilt faster, it sews faster and vice versa, so that the stitches are much more even. I had visions of a beautiful stippled quilt, so easy and effortless the way people like Leah Day or Angela Walters make it seem. Oh how wrong I was!

I tried the quilting on a baby quilt for my younger son. This is what it looked like. It was much harder than I had expected to steer the quilt and keep the pattern even. And, of course, I used a bright red thread for it, you know, just so you can REALLY see all the spiky, uneven turns and wonky loops!

First free motion attempt - baby quilt (Sept 2013)

Below is a close-up. The stippling never really materialised, it was more of a jagged wave pattern.

Some lessons learnt: 

• Practice, practice, practice before you take on a real quilt
• Don't expect perfection, embrace the mistakes
• Try and use a neutral coloured thread that blends into the background. I think this looks nicer as it does not clash with the design of the quilt (and it also means mistakes are not quite as obvious!)
  
• Check out online resources for some help (Leah Day has lots of youtube videos)

First free motion attempt - close-up (Sept 2013) 

I still love it! It was my first attempt and the only way to improve is to practice. Since then I have used some plain cotton quilt "sandwiches" (scraps of batting between two pieces of Ikea's Bomull fabric is great) to practice and am slowly getting better. Once I get my Grace frame (November this year! Hooray!), it will be much easier to practice and I hope I will be able to master decent stippling in a short space of time.

Festival of Quilts, Kaffe Fassett and the new Juki Long Arm

A few highlights from the 2013 Festival of Quilts.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally got to go to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. We stayed with my family in Manchester and S came with me while my mum babysat.

The main purpose of the trip (apart from total immersion in all things quilty) was for me to try out a Grace quilting frame and find a machine to go with it. The lovely people at the Cotton Patch stand were very helpful and I have decided to get the Gracie Queen frame with the Juki TQ98. I looked at the Janome 1600P-QC, which has the same throat space, similar functions and is somewhat cheaper than the Juki TQ98, but it has mixed reviews online and the Juki TQ98 just sounded and felt that bit smoother.  

Kaffe Fassett, Festival of Quilts 2013, Birmingham, UK (Aug 2013) 

One of the highlights (for me, at least) was seeing the wonderful and amazing Kaffe Fassett. He was there signing books and sat quietly at his table, knitting whilst he waited for his fans. There were several quilts from his latest book on display, too and they looked even more amazing live than they do on paper! 

Even though I use a lot of solids and blenders in most of my quilts, I do find that Kaffe Fassett fabrics are in a class of their own. They incorporate traditional elements but also work very well in modern quilts. They come in the most vibrant of colour combinations and they are not like anything else out there. It is always good to have a few in your fabric stash!

One of the great advantages of attending such a big quilting event is that you get to see (and try) some of the latest in quilting technology. As I mentioned above, I wanted to try out the Grace frame, but having the chance to try out some of the high-end long arm quilters was brilliant!

The new Juki QVP long arm quilter 

This is the new Juki QVP long arm quilter. It is already on sale in the U.S. and will be available in Europe from spring 2014. Even though a professional long arm machine is currently something I only dream of, I just had to give it a try! It is amazing. Maybe one day....

Overall, I really enjoyed the Festival of Quilts. It was lovely to be around so many other quilt fanatics. Exhibitors and guests alike were friendly and helpful, creating a real sense of community. I am already planning next year's visit!