I know I have written a lot about my Hope Lives in Pink Houses project, this should be the end of the story. I promise not to make it the subject of any more blog posts from this day forward but I wanted to share the finish with you.
I threw the layers on the frame yesterday. My quilting machine is a short arm, it's a Pfaff Grand Quilter 1200 on a Grace Start Right frame, which comes with lots of pro's and plenty of con's. I love my machine for all it allows me to do and hate it for all the limitations it throws in my face when I want to do anything particular...like freehand straight lines for example or quilt into an area that spans beyond it's 9" reach. This little wall hanging needed more than an all over meander and I was gung-ho to practice some new-to-me FMQ skills; my guild mate & friend, Linda, would be proud of me for stepping out of my comfy, tried & true, stippled box. So with her in mind, I swirled my little heart out, tossed in some pebbles and gave the trees some texture but I ran into problems with the straight lines. The carriage is pretty sensitive and stitching anything that is remotely straight free hand poses a bit of a problem. I couldn't possibly eat enough bananas to steady my hands to achieve nice clean straight lines.
I should probably have pulled out the wonky, wobbly stitches & resewn them on my regular machine but as I have mentioned in the past I believe in moving forward. So I just kept going...wobbling along all the way to the finish line ending with binding, sleeve and label.
It's done! I am more or less happy with it. Overall I think it looks pretty good, at a distance at least. I learned a lot, had some fun and decided I need to investigate a new foot for my wee Grand Quilter that will allow me to get some rulers. Yes, rulers. I said it. Though I hate them for some applications I just might learn to love them for others.
Now, all that said, it's whiskey time.
I don't have a shamrock inked on my neck for nothing!
Hey fellow SSoBB, this is WONDERFUL! I'm still working up the gumption to try new free motion quilting motifs. I would love to do swirls like yours so maybe I just need to jump in and do it. I like all free pieced block in the edges....sure make your eye move around the whole piece.
ReplyDeleteYou never learn from doing the same thing. So good for you for jumping in and adding to your toolbox. Saw a Longarm quilter doing free motion couching with wool. I am going to give it a go, looked like fun. She does her entire wuilt with couching. The Eagle feathers were amazing.
ReplyDeleteHey girlie! So proud of you! You are out of the box now! You swirled the beejeezus out of it and it looks fabulous! Fabulous, I say! Can't go wrong with swirls. Such texture, such movement. Don't give any thought to the wiggly lines. We all have them.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow girl, that quilting is fabulous! so much great texture! I want to be you when I grow up.
ReplyDeleteYou did a fabulous job on your quilting , take a bow !
ReplyDeleteI think your Hope quilt looks really wonderful and fun! Thanks for your comments on my Iguana, when i opened up my blog last night I had 21 pending notifiicaitons!
ReplyDeleteDude... it's your blog. As you are wont to say, there are no rules. Blog about this quilt every danged day if you like. Love all those spirals in the negative space. And, once again, the lines aren't wiggly or wonky... it's organic. How's that for pretentious modern quilt talk? :)
ReplyDeleteI think your finish is wonderful - a piece like that doesn't NEED straight lines (although I understand why it is frustrating when you want to and can't). I LOVE this quilt!
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