Helpful Cat...

I step away from the machine for TWO seconds and she's all settled in, daring me to try to move her.

Rory is just sooo darn helpful when I'm quilting :)

Quilt Finishing Marathon

I've got the pedal to the metal on my machine and Netflix on the laptop as I finish several tops that had piled up.  FMQ on everything and now binding is being applied :)

Pretty bindings in the sunlight make me smile. Now we will have some Friday Finishes to look forward to!

Photos from the Quilting Trenches

Quilting is in full swing here today!

The Honeycomb quilt is on the machine, Wilson is helping of course.  Check out the cute little bee FMQ from The Inbox Jaunt.

Back to work!

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

All About the Quilting {Quilt-as-You-Go Simple Sampler}

Hello everyone, I hope you had a Merry Christmas! We still have a few posts to go in the Simple Sampler series.  Now that all the block tutorials are up these last few posts will focus on quilting, assembling, and finishing your quilt.

Today's post is about quilting patterns.  One of the biggest advantages of a quilt-as-you-go method is that it gives you the freedom to tackle quilting patterns on a small project that you might be afraid to commit to a whole quilt with.  It gives you the chance to learn and practice a pattern without fighting the bulk of a whole quilt. Also, you can try a bunch of different patterns in the same quilt!

Sixteen patch quilted with a simple figure 8

When doing QAYG it's important to remember to stay at least a half inch or so away from the raw edges of the block so you'll be able to join to finished blocks together.  FMQ is less likely than straightline quilting to cause shifting or distortion of the block.

Star block with flowers

I began to work on FMQ in earnest last January; it was my New Years Resolution.  Honestly, I can't believe how far I have come in a year. FMQ was something that always scared me.  I can't draw, so what hope did I have to FMW? But with practice (a lot of it!) and perseverance I am learning, and as I get more confident, FMQ gets more fun!

Chain Squares, an Angela Walters design

One huge help with FMQ has been Angela Walters book.   I really can't say enough good things about this book.  Lots of FMQ patterns laid out with detailed instructions.

Cursive writing "Hey diddle diddle..."

Some of the best advice about learning to quilt is to remember: when you're quilting you're looking at the stitching from 2" away. No one else if going to be looking at it that close.

Dutchman's Puzzle block quilted with Flower Power, Angela Walter design

This Flower Power design, shown above, is one of my favorites. I used this design on an entire quilt before. It was worth it, but talk about time- and thread-consuming!

Pinwheel quilted with simple swirl

This simple swirl (above) is a design I made myself.

Broken dished quilted with uneven back and forth squiggles

The uneven back and forth squiggles on this block remind me of water ripples.

Churn dash block quilted with wood grain Angela Walters pattern

This wood grain pattern is my favorite from Angela's book, but given the amount of time a thread required I think I'll be saving it for special occasions.

Ocean Waves block quilted with a Swirled Hook, Angela Walters design

If you are just beginning your FMQ journey, take heart :)  It will take time and patience, but you CAN do it.  If this non-artist, can't-sketch, straight-lines and square-corners please, person can do it then anyone can!

FMQ Lessons Learned

I've been free motion quilting for a grand total of about a week, so suffice it to say this isn't some kind of expert tutorial on how to have successful FMQ.  In fact, it's the opposite of that.  These are just some tips, by a novice and meant for a novice.

Beginner FMQ Scribbles

I noticed as I was scouring the internet for help trouble shooting the FMQ problems I was having that there wasn't too much out there. I figure this is probably because by the time most people get around to writing a guide for something they're gotten good enough at it that all the hiccups and trips ups that beginner face are long forgotten.  With that in mind, I wanted to write these lessons learned down before I get so good at FMQ that I forget all about them (fingers crossed.)

Lesson 1: Faster isn't always better
          I found mixed advice on the blogs as far as the speed one should learn to FMQ at.  Apparently the conventional wisdom is to go as fast as possible.  Others said that you should go as slow as you need to.  Personally tend more toward the slow.  Setting my machine to a higher speed did help a tiny bit with tension issues, but I was way to close to running over my fingers, never mind being able to sew a pretty, planned design.
         I find that I move my hands slowest at the beginning of a session of quilting, but as I  get "warmed up" I begin to go faster.  I bump up the speed switch on my machine correspondingly as my hands speed up.  My comfortable speed is pretty medium, in fact it's almost dead center on my machine's speed slider switch.  Still, it's faster than I expected it to be.  I expect that as I get better I'll get faster, too.

Lesson 2: It's only a matter of time before I sew over a pin
        It's also only a matter of time (probably not very much) before I run over my finger.  Not much to say about this besides, it's a whole lot easier to run over things with a free motion foot that a walking foot, so try not to do that.  And I'll try, too.

Lesson 3: Hand position
        I saw a lot of hand positions for FMQ as I was searching for information.  Both hands on top, both hands underneath, one on top and one under, gloves, no gloves, etc.  I tried a little bit of everything and found that I like to have both hands on top of the quilt, pinching the quilt with the fingers on my right hand to provide the grunt to move the bulk of the quilt while keeping my left hand spread flat for finer guidance.  Obviously everyone has their preferred way to do this, you just have to try until you find something that works.

Left hand position

Right hand position

         One of the most difficult things for me at first was moving my hands without making a major wobble in my quilting.  I'm still working on it; it's getting better.
        On a related note, I found it easier to maneuver with my quilt piled loosely on the table around my machine rather than tightly rolled as I have seen many people do.  Try both and see what works.

Quilt piled around machine, ready to quilt "toward" me (gradually moving quilt back)

Lesson 4: Tension problems and "tension" problems, Or: The dreaded eyelashes
        Thing were going so well, until... the dreaded eyelashes started showing up on the back of my quilt.  Here is what I learned after I threw up my hands and turned to the internet for help:  Popular wisdom is that there are two sources for this: top tension is too loose or you are moving you hands too quickly on the curves.  It's recommended to set your tension a bit higher for FMQ than where you normally keep it, but if you aren't getting eyelashes everywhere then that probably isn't the source of your problem.  Also, if your tension was working fine for piecing then really it should still be fine.

The dreaded eyelashes.  Source: SewCalGal

        As for speed on the curves, I was fairly certain that I was moving my hands at the same speed all over.  The stitches along my curves were exactly that same size as the ones in the straight sections.  I tried all combinations of hand and foot speeds anyway, but it didn't solve my problem.
        Next I decided to try various combinations of having my feed dogs up or down and setting my stitch length between 0 and where I normally keep it (see below for a more extensive discussion of this).  None of that helped either, but it was worth a try.  Messing with your feed dogs and stitch length change how your machine works mechanically so theoretically they could cause tension issues that don't happen when your are piecing.
         The epiphany finally came when I went back and looked at some of my more successful efforts and looked for things that had changed between then and now. The only difference? The bobbin thread.  I switched from red bobbin thread back to white and voila, no eyelashes.  Don't even ask me why, sewing machines are finicky things, but for now I am sticking to white in the bobbin until I figure it out.
PS: Everything I read recommended using the same thread color in the bobbin as on top to camouflage any minor tension issues as it's just almost impossible to get it perfect.  If even the experts admit to minor tension issues, I decided to be happy as long as mine are not obnoxious.

Lesson 5: The right thread?
         Everything I read online emphasized the importance of having quality thread for FMQ.  The wrong thread could be a source of tension problems and thread breakage, among other things.  Now, red bobbin weirdness aside, I was able to successfully FMQ using the standard, bargain but not cheap, threads I had in my stash already.  It is possible.  However, I bought some purpose made machine quilting thread to try and it did make a noticeable difference.  So, for me the fancy thread wasn't necessary, but it was nice.

Lesson 6: Dogs up or down?
        Traditional wisdom, as well as common sense, says that you should put your feed dogs down when FMQ-ing.  After all, they push fabric through the machine, and you didn't need their help for that when you're free motioning.
        However, with certain machines lowering the feed dogs alters the mechanical operation of the machine in such a way that it just doesn't stitch well with them down.  It's worth a try to leave them up, anyway, if you're having weird problems you can't diagnose.  Setting your stitch length to 0 should render your feed dogs movement irrelevant, so it won't matter if they're up.
        However, (haha, there's that word again!) changing your stitch length can ALSO cause issues on some machines.  So, try keeping your stitch length where you'd normally have it and lower your feed dogs.  If your feed dogs are down then your stitch length is irrelevant.
        If you are still having problems that you think may be related to your feed dogs and/or stitch length try taping a piece of an old credit card (or something similar) over the feed dogs to cover them and leave everything as you would normally have it set for piecing.  (Or you could not bother with the card... I found that I couldn't really feel the effects of my feed dogs against the fabric, even when I left them just as they would normally be set for piecing).
       In the end I've settled for turning my feed dogs off and leaving my stitch length set as normal when I free motion.

Six tips... that's all I can think of for now. I hope someone out there beginning to learn FMQ finds these helpful.  If all else fails, put your FMQ away for a few months and try again later. I have tried to learn before without success, but this time when I started I felt ready.  If I can do it so can you!

Post-Christmas Recap and January Goal

 Hi there :)  Things have been quite here over the holiday, mainly because I was working on Christmas presents which I couldn't show on the blog.  One set of quilt-y presents is in transit currently to its recipients but the other I can show.  This is also my January goal to finish by the end of the month for the Lovely Year of Finishes challenge.

The basted quilt spread out on the floor at my Grandpa's house being admired.

This is another of the quilts made from my uncle's old clothes.  (See the others here and here.)  The others have been made for my cousin, but this one is for my mom.  I've had these old, high-school football jerseys of his for a year, but been mostly just staring at them trying to figure out how to make a pretty quilt centered around football jerseys.  I was also stuck with maroon and grey as two of my primary colors, but eventually inspiration struck.

 I decided to use a palette of maroon, grey, brown, cream, and blue and to make some stars to mix with the jerseys. Fortunately, this is quite a popular combination at the moment.  I bought a charm pack and some yardage of Double Chocolate as well as a little French General.  I wasn't able to get the quilt done by Christmas, but I got it basted before we traveled to visit out family two states over.

A star with some of my beginner FMQ

I took the basted quilt with us on the trip and one evening, after dinner as everyone was settled in the living room over coffee, I surprised mom with the partially finished quilt wrapped in Christmas paper.  I knew that this would be a very emotional quilt for my mom and I wanted to be able to give it to her surrounded by her family.

Quilt-parazzi taking pictures to put on Facebook

Mom loved the quilt! And so did everyone else, it was exciting for them to see those jerseys again.  I had the classic problem of being worried that the quilt would be too small for a sofa quilt and instead ending up with a queen size bed quilt.  Oh well, Dad's already looking forward to putting this on their bed :)

Beginner feathers

 I've been using a mix of straightline quilting and my beginning free motion skill to slowly quilt the monster. Mom won't mind if the quilting is less than perfect, I'm sure she's just ready for me to give it to her for real, so she can put it on her bed and enjoy it.

Honestly, after the first hellish afternoon battling tension issues, FMQ has been not so bad.  I have a long way to go before I'm happy with my technique, but I feel like I'm on the right road. 

Spread on my full size bed. Such a big quilt!

I hope everyone's Christmas and New Year were happy.  I'm looking forward to a quilt-y 2013 ;)

 (edited to add: A Lovely Year of Finishes)

(Humming "Auld Lang Syne")

Well, it's that time of year again. I normally don't make New Years Resolutions... I don't know why. I guess I tackle new challenges throughout the year whenever they come up.

That being said, I have decided that 2013 will be the year I learn to free motion quilt. It's time. And I'm starting by turning my piles of small batik scraps into an improv pieced, quilt-as-you-go practice quilt. Hopefully by the time I have enough pieces for a quilt I'll have graduated to decent FMQ. I feel like this challenge needs some theme music, a la "Mission Impossible." Let's do this :)