I made a thing! I meant to blog about this in pieces--in process as it were, but obviously, that didn't happen. In any case, look at this little mini quilt! I am so pleased with it. It's not perfect, and I don't care at all. There was a great deal of learning involved, which was really the point. Also, I finally got to use some of the fabric I purchased in France 8 years ago (8 years!!). So, there's that.
I was never one for the mini quilt, but now that I am interested in exploring processes of quilting (literally--like the actual quilting of a quilt), it's sort of a helpful thing. I knew that I would use this mini-quilt to try out straight line quilting with a walking foot. I tried it a few years ago and it was a disaster. I am pretty sure I had a faulty foot because when things work as they should, the quilting itself looks amazing, a lovely quilt is produced in an efficient way, and the act of quilting doesn't make you hate your life.
This walking foot did have a hiccup on me, but it turns out that it needed to be cleaned and oiled a little bit. Once I took care of the walking foot, it took care of me. There is a section or two that are not as cleanly quilted. Meh. This is still the best quilting I have ever done. And I do mean ever.
I did add fabric to the edge (see above--see the seam right next to binding, yeah, don't care) and pieces of the quilt top (center of the star--not going to lie, I felt like a genius when that worked out) as I was piecing it together because things didn't match up properly (one of my French fabrics was really bias-y).
Also, I used the walking foot on the quilt binding as well just out of curiosity. It's the prettiest machine sewn quilt binding I have ever done. I mean, you'd not want to do it for a quilt going into a show or anything, but a gift that going to get washed 80,000 times, yes.
I have no idea why I have not employed this tool earlier. Every one of the sewing machines I have ever owned came with a walking foot (or even feed foot, if you prefer) I believe. Like I said, I did try it once before, but I should have tried again. Reading Jacquie Gering's Walk was very inspirational, too. So, I am sure I will gain further inspiration as I work through that, but I am loving this straight line quilting right now. It's a beautiful thing. You will see it on a ton more quilts. Probably soonish.
The Thing: Striped Star Mini Quilt (link goes to a great pattern/tutorial so you can make your own, you'll need to design your own quilting plan though--the one provided is pretty simple, which is fine, of course)
The Thing's Designer: Purl Soho /Purl Bee (obviously a specific human, but I am unsure which one)
The Thing was Made with: Cotton fabric, cotton thread, cotton batting and considerable patience
The thing Measures: app 21" x 21"
Roethke would be proud of you. Beautiful.
Posted by: Deborah | April 25, 2018 at 06:32 AM
That is very pretty. I think I'd be way too intimidated to try something like that, or at least not without a lot of practice first. I'm still trying to figure out how to get over being afraid of my sewing machine. Used to sew a lot, but haven't touched it in years.
Posted by: Colleen Mason | April 27, 2018 at 01:55 PM