Quilting?

[Steam.Jo]

The last strip is going on:



And it has become more than a handful

All the blocks together in the central block section has been folded in quarters so I can put it on the table:



And a close up of the pattern:



Border next.

Jo

[Serinde]

Nice!

[Roland]

That’s amazing.

[Steam.Jo]

I've just spent 2 1/2 hours pinning the quilt top to the wadding and the backing sheet.



I started as instructed on the floor laying out the brand new bed sheet, which I then realised needed ironing. On top of that I laid the wool wadding sort of flat (it kept raising up). Then finally the top. Then it is a case of using bent safety pins pinning through all three layers trying to keep everything flat.

It is almost impossible to see how well it is done so I decided to hang the piece on my conservatory bars. Which showed how far out my pinning was A fair bit of re-pinning was needed.

I think I will add a few more pins and then this will be ready for quilting together. One of the Ladies at my Friday sewing group suggested that I should use my blind foot in my sewing machine to aid when I "stitch in the ditch" this piece and they also suggested using some swimming pool noodles ???

Jo

[Mabel Figworthy]

That was a mammoth task Jo, well done!

[Serinde]

Had to look up noodles in this context, and it's pretty neat! Whoever thinks of these things??

[Steam.Jo]

I've folded up the two sides so that I can woman handle the quilt over the sewing machine:



It will have to lay in my lap as I move it through. I'm using the bind stitch foot to follow the line on the top and doing "stitch in the ditch":



Doing these long stitching lengths is hard enough moving the quilt over the bed but I need to stitch the wadding on with a maximum distance between the stitching of 4". The light coloured squares are 4 " and I cannot see how I am going to be able to turn the quilt 90 degrees to sew round the corners so there is going to be hundreds of thread ends to stitch in

Jo

[Serinde]

What an effort! It almost seems as if an old-fashioned quilting frame would be easier, if slower.

Perhaps we could all come over and help?

[fccs]

Ooooo, can I help? I mean, force me to go to Scotland again.

[Serinde]

You'd need to help in Hampshire first, then come up, but yeah. Sound.

[Steam.Jo]

On to the last bit of the binding:



This is just a strip of material folded/ironed in half, stitched on the front through all three layers of top/wadding/base. The bottom two layers are now trimmed to match the top



and the binding is folded round the cut edge such that it overlaps the original stitching that secured the binding strip on. Then I just "stitch in the ditch" along the top edge and the binding is secured at the back.

So all four binding strips are on:



I have zillions of ends to stitch in from the quilting which I have been told I should have done as I went along then I have also been told that I need to add more quilting as the stitching along squares are too far apart to prevent the wadding moving. I am considering hand quilting in these bits as I am going to have to stitch in the ends and the stitching lengths are going to be about 6" long each, so it could be as quick by hand and no one will notice


I have learnt many things along the way on this bit:

There is no such thing as too many pins when quilting. = I have just ordered another 300 bent quilting safety pins.

Pins should be left open in their box so you have to mind your fingers as you pick them out. Closing the pins delays matters

Quilting clips are rather handy, not only for holding the pieces together during the patch work but also for holding on the binding. They are just the right depth for this binding so I could see if the fold over was too short/long.

Wool wadding likes to snatch on the sewing machine foot


Back to my fairy....

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

I forgot to mention: handling a full sized King sized quilt is not easy: its a real handful. And some idiot has at least one more King sized and a single quilt to do

I am now seeing why people like doing miniature quilts

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

I had been "balancing" the quilt on one of my garden tables to hand sew the quilting round the smaller areas:



It was not very successful so I looked at quilting tables and they were expensive and where would I put it?

I finally came up with buy two carpenter's trestles, put an old drawing board on top and voilà a huge quilting surface. Which I then thought maybe I could adapt it for holding the quilt for quilting:



It is a little low for quilting but I will give it a go:



After I have finished my Woodland fairy

Jo

[Serinde]

Good solution!

[Steam.Jo]

Sadly one of the rollers broke a few days later But the good news is I have been lent a full king sized quilting frame.



The multi section table is in the distance and the rollers on the floor nearest.

Its a loaner to see if I can get on with one. Actually I suspect that Shauna who owns it was not happy with it being out in her damp shed and did not have sufficient space in her sewing room as her long arm quilting machine has pinched its original slot. I suspect it will be with me for about 6 months So I have lots of quilts to get on with before she reclaims it.

Once I have worked out how to put it together the next question will be to keep it in the conservatory or my library where I do my quilting. But it is very BIG!

Jo

[Serinde]

Perhaps this is the origin of the quilting bee? This equipment is too big to be kept permanently assembled, but a nice summer's day, and three friends sitting in a row can make short work of basic quilting.

It is big!

[Steam.Jo]

As a retired engineer I felt the need to correct all the fastenings on the entire frame. Having a nut over tightened into wood without a washer underneath it is naughty Nylocs where standard nuts should have been used, Double nylocs - I've no idea what they were hoping to achieve. The Base is now together:



I have also assembled the rollers:



Someone has thought about this and mounted two parts zips to the rollers so I just need to tack the zip bits to my quilt and it will mount

That is as far as I can take it for now as the owner forgot to let me have the bottom part of the carriage which her Mum (who is one of my neighbours) is going to drop round later. A few bits are missing that I will look to make replacements for.

Its owner is oblivious to which model Grace Frame it is, it is actually a Grace GMQ-Pro Frame. If she knew (and had put it together correctly ) then she would have known it folds down for storage.



But it is still rather big

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

And the quilt is mounted:



Someone thought about mounting up the quilt and has added zips to the leaders. So it is a case of sew one side of the zip on the quilt and go and zip it to the leader on the roller.

I've raised up the third and fourth rollers so that I can get my chair nearer to sew in the ends by hand.

Jo

[Serinde]

Darn clever, these quilters. That zip idea is simple but effective. It's still big, as you say; as is the quilt. Dare I ask how long you think this might take? (I know it would take me years!)

[Steam.Jo]

I've picked up the final part of the carriage and mounted my third sewing machine on it:



At this point I have realised that free motion quilting means exactly what is says: The sewing machine will go anywhere with the slightest pressure. I can see why people quilt with swirls as that is going to be so much easier than doing straight lines. I can also see why they do guide feet and stencils to guide those feet to achieve reliable shapes. You have no speed/stitch length control and where I normally start with the needle down all those controls are at the opposite end of the machine.

This will take some time and I may have to take down my quilt and just practise on a piece of spare fabric. At least with the zips it is easy to remove.

Jo