Saturday, February 14, 2009

It's Quilted!!!!!


Autumn Mountains is quilted- in one day!!! I cannot believe the difference a longarm setup makes. I actually had all but the last pass done in less than four hours, then stopped for our WAQ meeting.

It is not perfect by any means, but I am thrilled. I got the movement I wanted, and at least some of my gaffes will be covered by the leaves I will applique. As for my learning, here they are in a nutshell-
  • Pieced blocks with lots of busy prints and variations in value are a challenge to quilt. I was using monofilament, and in many areas I literally could not see where I had already quilted. Consequently, I had some areas where I overlapped motifs, and others where I had to fill in. The upside- if I can't see it, neither will the viewer!
  • Mark the bottom of where you can quilt. You don't want to end up with definite 'rows' of quilting, and these help plan ahead.
  • Microhandles are a godsend, especially for those of us who aren't used to a longarm. I felt more in control, closer to the needle. (A side point- the HQ 16 is the only long/midarm with control buttons on both the microhandles and the regular handles. So, I could turn it on and off without having to move my hands. Much, much easier!
  • Crawling under the frame lets you get a good view of what you've quilted, and where you might need to fill in. At least it works on a Hinterberg frame!
I have a little bit of quilting to do on the tree, but that will be easy to do on my Juki since it's mostly on one side. I'll be using Jeans Stitch- I want a fat line with matte thread. Then I'll get busy on the leaves- lots of them!

I have been thinking about my edge finish. Two layers of batting (where the tree is will be a challenge- but I think I have an unconventional idea that will work. And, it will let me face the other areas of the quilt, which is my preference since I used up all the border fabric, and I don't want a definite line like a binding would have.

Our WAQ group came up with two challenges we will be working on- one larger piece, 16 X 24, and a smaller one that will be mounted on a canvas. I'll be posting more as I start my research and musings!

And finally, if you've read this far- Happy Valentine's Day! I hope yours is filled with love and laughter!

2 comments:

Judy Whitehead said...

Another thing that works to see where you're going and where you've been is to use ONLY a side light on your quilting area. No overhead, the side creates shadows in the depth created by the stitching lines. Doesn't work on all fabric thread combo's, but helps on most!!!

alice said...

I'm thinking of buying an HQ16 - I took a "test drive" & loved it as well. Love the way your quilting looks!