machine quilting

Sketch to Reality


Must. Finish. Projects.

I'm on a kick this last month and I feel the need to finish up a bunch of stuff before I start anything new. It must be September. I've long since considered Labour Day to be my New Year more than January 1st. It's felt this way since I left university and feels even more so now that I've got one in school full-time.

This quilt has been basted since some point in the spring. I was in charge of a basting demo at my guild and used this. Then I got stuck on what quilting design to sew. I browsed this site for days. I sketched and doodled. Nothing ever felt right. Then I was chatting with Amanda Jean and she commented that she was coordinating her quilting, thread choice, backing, and binding. I hadn't thought this far ahead, but it made a thread colour pop into my head. From there I made a few more doodles while hanging out with the girls and a plan was hatched.

I honour of the New Year and because Amanda Jean posted about her nearly whole cloth quilt I felt the need to pull out mine yesterday. Now the trick is to realize that sketch...

Coincidence

It was only a coincidence.

There I was happily quilting away on my little blue/green HSTs. You know, the one Hubby thinks is my coolest quilt ever. And the one where he thought I should have matched up the background circles? (By the way, I told him he could make the quilt himself next time if he thinks that's ever going to happen.)

I'm busy twisting and turning the quilt as I add the straight line quilting when I notice this:


And this:


Out of 272 blocks I managed to match up these two seams, without even trying. That counts for something, right?

Thread Choices

It's down to the quilting on that Shades of Grey Herringbone piece. The first decision is always which thread to use.

I actually starting threading my machine with the normal grey thread I use for piecing. It seemed kind of obvious to use it. It would blend in and carry on the grey theme.

Then I thought about my binding. I'm thinking of going with a turquoise, so I wanted to see if turquoise thread would work. It surely pops! The colour would be great and it would work great with the binding and the back. But I've also got turquoise on the back (shot cottons) and I didn't want to have just one section on the back where the quilting blended in.

Going back and forth between the grey and the turquoise I was torn. The turquoise looks really good on the front, but the grey seemed more in line with the Shades of Grey fabric. Then I remembered that I have a cone of nearly white organic thread. When I put it next to the others I realized that it was the perfect choice. It pops on the back, it reads practically the same as the grey on the front, and it is an organic choice.


This quilt isn't all organic - the muslin foundation isn't organic, the back is a mix of conventional shot cottons, and I tried out a bamboo batting. But I am definitely influenced by Jan's commitment to organics and wanted to push it as much as I could. The organic thread will be a great finish.

Quilt Snob?

Am I a snob?

Okay, don't answer that right away.

There has been a lot of talk and entertaining posts lately about a lot of quilt arena issues - modern versus traditional, rants about designers, plain old rants, beginners feeling shamed, quilters being snobby, and more. I'm not going to repeat them all here, and I doubt I've even seen them all. But if you want some really interesting posts read them here, and make sure you read all the comments too. Note: I've included different opinions here, only this post is my own.

It is actually the comments I'm reading that are pushing me to write this post. Many folks are upset with "quilt snobs". Unfortunately, it isn't always clear to me what defines a snob.

The way I define a snob is someone who intentionally works to make someone else feel bad for the way they act, dress, define themselves, propping themself up higher on their already high horse in doing so. When it comes to quilting snobs, what does this mean?

... Disdain for one style of quilting over another?
... Talking smack about a fabric line you aren't a fan of, and by extension, the designers?
... Shooting down bloggers who maybe don't have a fancy camera or can only take their pictures late at night when they have a spare moment to work?
... Judging people who are trying to make a living at quilting?
... Being openly critical of bee participants?
... Just another name for the quilt police marking down missed points and skipped stitches?
... Big Name Bloggers refusing to comment on other blogs?
... Groups of friends that are collaborating/chatting and defined as cliques?

I've been critical of charm packs/pre-cuts and the reliance on them. I struggle with group projects where the simple quality of the workmanship is lacking (ie. no 1/4 seams, lack of pressing, and no squaring up of blocks). I'll admit that I'm tired of plain patchwork quilts. And stippling. (I've done more than my fair share of both)

All this, however, doesn't make me a snob. Anytime I think these things I keep my mouth shut (until today, obviously). If I visit a blog I like and see a quilt I don't then I move on to the next one in my Reader. I like to challenge myself so that's why you don't see me do many things twice, but that's me. I have no interest whatsoever in making someone feel bad or trying to make myself feel better with an off-putting or off-colour comment.

I will never condemn you for your pattern choice. I will never judge your fabric choice, but I will share my considered opinion if you ask. I will never shoot someone down in a public forum for their own creativity, work, family, or anything quilty related.

Rather, I want more people quilting. I want blogs to inspire. I want new or hopeful quilters to come to blogs and think "I can do that!" Or, if they are intimidated by the work (and not the quilter) think, "I can't wait until I can do that!" I don't think I'm alone with this goal. I want people to feel motivated to finish their quilts however they like, with the emphasis on finishing.

In pursuit of this goal I will continue to share my own inspiration, my work - both easy and difficult - tips and tutorials and yes, challenge the conventions. I will always encourage people to break free from patterns, charm packs, and single line quilts. I will always, always stress care in construction. I will always answer questions you send my way. I will push for people to be open with their process

This doesn't make me a snob.

Or does it? Be honest, I've got skin as thick as an elephant. But remember, my Dad just died.

(That was a joke.)

What makes a quilt snob? Have you had any run-ins? What's your strategy for dealing with the quilt snobs you encounter?

Guide to Machine Quilting


Don't let the cover fool you, modern quilters. Hands down, I believe this is the best resource book for machine quilting out there. You may never do trapunto or feathers, but even for your basic free motion stipple, this book will help.

Diane Gaudynski is the machine quilting guru. Award winning, she has every authority to speak on this subject. And speak she does. She teaches and blogs, so you can find more from her all over the place.

Her book is full of exercises, tips, supplies, concepts and trouble shooting. Whenever I am having a problem with something, anything, in my quilting this book is the first thing I pick up. I almost always find the information I need to solve the problem. Likewise, this is an excellent inspiration for technique and free motion ideas.
The book covers set-up and basting, important factors in actually enjoying machine quilting. Yes, enjoying. When it goes smoothly, machine quilting is actually kind of exciting. You see your movements, your efforts literally changing the weight of the quilt in your hands. For me, that is a thrilling thing in the process of creating my quilts.

It does seem odd to me that there are some actual quilt projects at the back of the book. Yes, they show off the quilting, but it seems kind of irrelevant. I would have rather seen more examples of quilting techniques.

I strongly recommend that everyone keep this book in their library. It is worth it.

Thanks to Elle for introducing me to the book in the first place.

Calming the Waves

Sometimes when you dream you wake up and wonder WTF was that? Or you laugh because it is was just plain silly. You could be my daughter who woke up the other day after a good dream about a friend from school saying, "It was a good dream, I'm going to keep it."

The other night I had a dream that was terrifying and made me not want to go back to sleep. As scary as it was to my unconscious, it was frighteningly clear to my conscious self. There is no hidden symbolism in a dream where you are moving to higher ground in a constant effort to escape tidal waves.

When I get overwhelmed by tasks and life it is my tendency to revert to list making. It seems scary at first, to put down everything that needs to be done, but it is incredibly satisfying to cross things off the list. Even the act of making the list serves to put perspective on all that seems overwhelming.

When I couldn't sleep after the tidal wave dream I woke up and immediately starting making lists. House stuff, articles, quilts on the go, deadlines, Christmas presents, and more. Then Hubby offered to take the girls with him on an out of town errand (he's home for a week!). I decided to put all the must do items aside and tackle something that a) would make me happy to work on and b) would be quick to finish. Conveniently, I'd basted two quilts at our Modern Quilt Guild sew night on the weekend.

So I turned on the stereo, made a cup of hot cocoa, and in between loads of laundry (a good break for the shoulders) got 3/4 of my Values Quilt quilted. The snow was falling, my Cuban music blaring, and I felt myself get calmer with every stitch. There will be no tidal waves for a few days at least.

Straight

It's been a long time since I did straight lines. While I adore symmetry and order in my life, my quilting tends to be a bit more random, chaotic, and improvised. And frankly, a bit lazy. I will always try to choose the easy way out of a situation, including quilting.

This is changing though. On the Bookcase quilt I chose a more time-consuming pattern to great effect. And when it came time to start quilting my Low-Volume Circles (I still need a better name than that) I had only one vision for the quilting. It involves a lot, a lot of straight lines. Oh, and some hand quilting. Definitely not the easy way out.

This is the start of the straight lines, as seen from the back. I'm hoping to have this one ready for the Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival, if not sooner. Watch for it!

Thread


You've heard me speak of my particular thread love before. Today I am sharing, with the inspiration from Sew Mama Sew, a bit more about thread.

How do you select colours for your personal thread collection?
Unlike fabric, I don't have a thread stash. Rather, I have thread that I've purchased for specific projects and maybe there are some leftovers.

Do you always match the thread perfectly to your project?
Well, that depends on the project. For piecing I use a cream or grey 99% of the time. For quilting it depends on the project at hand and my goals with the quilting.

Do you ever use contrasting thread?
Indeed, I have. I've outlined by hand with black. I've used colour on white, more than once. Or, when you've got a project with strong contrast in fabric choices, you can go one way or the other and you get contrast.

Do you use the same colour in the bobbin as on the top?
Usually, I do. You have to be very good with your tension if you use different threads, and even now I still struggle with this. For example, I constantly fought with tension on my Roots quilt, and it really mattered because I used grey on the back and constantly changed the top thread.

What if a fabric has big areas of very different colours?
Over time I've discovered that I stress way too much about the quilting pattern and thread choice. Especially when it comes to very colourful pieces. The truth is, in many, many quilts the thread and quilting pattern will get lost in a busy design. So, on a multicoloured or busy piece pick one colour and go with it.

Do you have any tips or suggestions on picking thread?
Experiment! Until you know what your machine likes and you've quilted a few times with it, it is hard to narrow down a specific choice of thread based on someone else's recommendation. So, try a few brands, a few needle sizes, and just play. The right thread will make itself known.

Do you ever buy thread because you fall in love with a colour? As an investment?
Nope.

What types of thread do you have?
I stick entirely to cotton.  My latest obsession is Precensia Mercerized Egyptian Cotton. I love the colours, it works well in my machine, and it doesn't produce a lot of lint. And it doesn't break! I do have some embroidery floss that the girls and I use to play around with embroidery. Thanks to Jen for that!

What about you? What are your thread favourites?

Throwback - A Digression


I'm not a quilt history expert, I'm just pretending to be one right now. After a week of browsing the quilts and exhibits of Quilt Canada I am very tempted to stand up and declare that there is no such thing as modern quilting.

Hold on, so far I only said I was tempted to say it.

Let's take a few steps back. You've heard me say before that I don't like to believe that I have a style in the quilts I do. To me a style meant that you could look at one of my quilts and instinctively know it was mine, or a rip off. I'd like to think I am adventurous enough to try lots of different things and that I can't be pinned down. (Pardon the pun.)

My first observation in having a quilt hung in the Invitational Show at Quilt Canada and seeing it up there next to some 500 or 600 other quilts is that I do kind of have a style. Or at least what I did was markedly different from 99% of what was there. It isn't that this makes me unique, just unique among participants at the show. It forced me to step back and examine the bulk of my quilts and realize that while you can't pin me down on colours, layout, or techniques, you can accuse me of bold, simple designs. Repetition of shapes or construction methods (improv) is quite common in most of what I do. So, maybe after all, I do have a bit of a style.

It pains me to admit that and my rebellious nature means I am aching to do something precise and varied in design. That will have to wait until I finish this thing.

The next observation I made is that I am not likely to ever, or at least in the near to mid-term future, likely to show well in a big, conventional show. I'm not saying I won't enter, I just doubt I would show well. There was one Gees Bend inspired quilt in the National Juried show, but that's it. The rest of it demonstrated some phenomenal quality, but only about 1% of it was something I would love to try. Just like machine quilting was a big deal when it started entering in shows in the 80s, it might be a while before a quilter like me could show well.

And I am really only referring to design here because - not to toot my own horn - I think my technique is pretty close in comparison. Except for maybe hand applique and some details, but I'm okay with that. Most people are intimidated by a big show, but I found it confidence inspiring that, barring quilting the life out of my pieces, my skills are pretty good.

So I crutched around the show - admiring quality work, intrigued by the crazy use of layering techniques, blown away by teeny tiny stippling - but I didn't get overly excited by much. There was an incredible 3D piece that resembled a diorama that was absolutely incredible, but that was it. Here I was, in the face of the current show quilt world of Canada these days and I was kind of bored. It was as if I'd met my good-on-paper- guy and realized that we had nothing in common. Pretty to look at it, but nothing to talk about. And certainly no chemistry.

Lest you think I am being disparaging of the artists, let me say that I have nothing but great things to say about the artists, teachers, and quilters I met. They were the inspiring ones, as people.

My last stop on the quilt show tour was an exhibit that was displaying antique sewing machines, furniture, and quilts. And it felt like I was kind of entering a comfortable place, even in a convention center. It should be noted that I am a mid-century modern girl, so it wasn't the antiques. Rather, it was the quilts. Simple, bold, clear colours (despite their age), repetitive designs, and almost exactly what you see being made with newer fabric all around the blogosphere of modern quilters.

Seriously, this display could have almost been a display of quilts from many a popular blogger today. And here we are on the internet flogging modern quilting like it is something we just made up. Yes, the importance of history and tradition is acknowledged, but people often come to modern quilting as either an evolution or rebellion from traditonal quilting. Well, I would now argue that modern quilting is actually just really, really traditional quilting. Before people got caught up in intricate pieced patterns with a million different templates and detailed quilting.

Oh, and just because you throw the word wonky or improv in front of it doesn't necessarily make it modern.

Did you know machine quilting is not an invention of the last 20-30 years? People were doing it over 100 years ago. You just don't see many examples of it because most of it was grid quilting and those quilts served as functional quilts, likely loved and used to death. Thank-you Sue Nickels for this tidbit and example. Okay, none of us think straight lines are new, but it may be argued that the prevalent use of straightline quilting is on the rise among self-described modern quilters (and almost non-existent at the show).

What else is on the rise? Easy, fast quilts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, but I got a great kick out of Mark Lipinski commenting that if the world came to an end but the quilts made it, the next inhabitants of the planet would think our arts were limited to Turning Twenty patterns! He pushed for quilters to return to a little complexity, to take the time on our pieces, to savour the process.

I would add that blogging might make the churn worse. We all want content, right? I don't know many who quilt for the sake of blogging, but ask yourself if you pick simpler projects just to have something to post? At least every now and then? Or, ask yourself how some of your favourite bloggers manage to finish so many quilts? Lifestyle aside, look at the quilts and the detail of the quilting they post.


So, this whole modern quilting thing. I can say for sure that I have a new perspective on it. And I don't think it is as revolutionary as some think it is. It really is a throwback to the traditional, traditional quilting, as this post also mentions. Just with prettier fabrics. (Although, really, so many of the popular designer fabrics are very vintagy, but with modern colours.)

I'm not coming down on the movement. It really is a movement, fueled by the internet. That's why the Modern Quilt Guild is so fascinating to me. From the internet grew a community that is now spreading like wildfire into the traditional guild model. This is awesome because no matter how much we share online (too much, at times) real connections with real people matter. Without it would be like doing nothing but designing quilts on the computer and never playing with fabric.

Beyond that, I think one of the best things about the movement is that it, and the proliferation of such bold fabrics, is bringing younger quilters to the sewing machines. And trust me, after a week with a whole bunch of 50-60 something women who complain their daughters and granddaughters don't want to quilt, this is a very good thing. And who knows, in time, we may be the ones winning ribbons? One day there may indeed be a Throwback category.


Artists, in order of appearance:
1. Forgot to record this one, apologies.
3. Me, in front of Grass
5. Cheryl A. Bock
6. Annette Johnston
7. Forgot to record this one, but it is a Heritage Park Quilter of Distinction
8. Sharon Stoneman
9. Various Antique quilts
10. More various Antique quilts
11. Forgot to record this antique one as well.
12. Flossie Douglas

A One Track Mind

It might be because I spent a week seeing the award winning quilts from the National Juried Show, but I was in a mood to quilt. And someone how I got it in my head to really quilt this quilt.

Seriously, this sucker is going to be heavily quilted! I won't be going to the extreme of stipple less than 1/8 of an inch big, but I am motivated to do some serious needlework now. I'm not complaining though, I think it will be just perfect.

Remind me, however, not to put my tea next to my pin box next time.

That's A Lot of Thread!

Wow, I finally finished the grass quilt.  And I can tell you that I lost count of how many bobbins I used but I went through five spools of 100 metres and two half spools on 500 metres of thread! That's a lot of thread!

Speaking of the thread, I used my new favourite kind of thread for quilting: Presencia Mercerized Egyptian Cotton.  I've made a few quilts with this thread now and I'm hooked.  It doesn't break, the lint isn't too bad, and the colours are wonderfully saturated. For the grass quilt I used three different greens and alternated colours for each row of grass that I quilted.

The binding still needs to go on, maybe tonight.  It will be another multi-pieced one.  First I need to sneak into the closet in the girls room and grab my bin of green fabrics.  Smilosaurus was having a rough day and went to bed early, early tonight.  Hmm, maybe I'll skip the binding and head to bed myself because I feel an early morning coming on.

PS  Stay tuned for one of my announcements later this week...

Can You Quilt the Grass?

Generally, no two quilts of mine are quilted the same.  Honestly, I don't think I've ever even stippled the same sort of way twice.  Many times I am inspired by a certain fabric in a quilt - flowers on a quilt with flowered fabric, for example.  Sometimes I am inspired by the graphic nature of a quilt and choose to reflect or accentuate it with the quilting design.  And sometimes, the original inspiration brings out the quilting design.  Such was the case with my Grass quilt.

I wanted the quilting to look like blades of grass.  There is all that white that was begging show off some cool quilting.  Really, the quilt top was even designed with this quilting idea in mind.

In order to pull off a new idea effectively you can't just throw some thread in the machine and see what happens.  As anxious as I usually am to start quilting the second I've closed my last pin I do like to do a bit more prep work before the needle hits my quilt sandwich.

The first thing I do is sketch.  More than once a quilt pattern comes from some random doodle done in a fit of boredom.  Last week I was on a conference call and my mind was wandering to exactly how I was going to quilt blades of grass without actually sewing a bunch of vertical lines down the quilt top.  I have no idea what was said about feed-in-tariffs that day, but from my first doodle on a sticky to this full sheet sketch I knew I had a good pattern. 

It was important to me to capture the randomness of growing grass and the movement you see when you get down on the ground and actually look at the grass.  I also didn't want it to look like a whole bunch of scratches stretching horizontally across the quilt.  I think the full sketch captured what I had envisioned in my head.  On to testing.

An old quilting friend of mine once gave us some really good machine quilting tips at a retreat. One of the tips she passed on was to create a binder of machine quilting samples.  Take note of thread, tension, and tips to make a pattern work.  That way there will be no second guessing when you want to do that pattern a second, third, or fourth time.  It also works well for testing a pattern and working out any kinks before you tackle a big quilt.

This was the sample I made to test my sketch.  In this case making a sample was a very good idea.  On my machine, when I do more curves I have to have my tension set quite light. That did not work on this pattern.  Problem corrected I also realized that this pattern was going to require some good speed control.  In just a few minutes I worked out my frustrations and was able to develop some rhythm for quilting.

On to the quilt.
Holy crap, I'm in love with this.  I still worry it is a bit to flame-like, but it really is exactly what I wanted. The amount of thread this is using is phenomenal - one bobbin doesn't even do two horizontal passes of the quilt.  Really, I could care less about the thread costs (I am so not doing that math at all).

Now, just to finish.  I'm only about a third done. Sometime in August...