Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Quilt Beautiful


Quilting Up Beautifully

Over 5 years ago I purchased my very first jelly roll. The Tula Pink Saltwater line jumped out at me as a had-to-have. You can find more information about the origin of this quilt in the posts below.

Making 2.5" Unfinished HST from a Jelly Roll




Few words can describe the dismay I felt when the seams would not line up as hard as I tried. (My first hard lesson with inaccuracies of pre-cuts!) It is off in many places, but I trudged onward in spite of it. Sometime in the past year I turned the blocks into a quilt top, folded it neatly on my ready to quilt rack, and quilted many other quilts for customers. 

Last week I think the little eyes on the octopus were watching me--winking perhaps, and in spite of having half a dozen other quilts still hanging for friends, I bumped this to the front. I was itching to use some of my new rulers, and just cut loose on something of my own.





Omni thread by Superior Threads is in the top, and So Fine by the same company in the bobbin.



Two layers of batting give it the poofiness you see with the dense quilting. The bottom is Warm&White by The Warm Company, and Fairfield Loft 1 poly on top. I still floated the top, but this time opted to roll the backing on.



Bar magnets hold the layers together against the backing bar when I float all the layers, but there is little magnetic force left through this much fabric and batting. This picture shows how I adjust the layers carefully each time I am ready to roll. It reminds me very much of my early experiences of dressing up. 

Slip into the ladies room for a quick touch up. Up with the dress then lift your slip. Down with the girdle, and pull up those stockings that slipped. Girdle up, slip down, dress tugged back in place. Then we smooth it all back down layer by layer. Check your lipstick, fake a smile, and back out the door.

Gosh, am I the only one that remembers doing this? It is exactly the same with the longarm! Up with the top, smooth the bottom batt, lift and tug the poly batt, then smooth, smooth, smooth the top. Pin the sides, add the clips, and ready to run again. Really, it is!



The borders are worked with the HQ 6.5" Wave ruler.


Before I ever load a quilt, I draw a pretty accurate design on the far right side of the top line. Then when I start on the far left, I have a good model to look at.



Here I drew a filler, but was not crazy about it.
(Hey, did you know I almost always quilt barefoot?)



So I changed my mind, and did paisleys--I mean scallops, another ocean motif.



Perfect? No. Loving it? Yes.

This is happy work, and I am keeping up a good pace. I should still have all my customer quilts done on time, and, yes, I am quilting a little on a day I should be cooking, cleaning, and getting ready for a big Thanksgiving. I covered my bases by telling everyone they might want to lower their standards this year. We all have a lot going on in our lives, and agree it is not about a clean house. It's about being together. 



Happy Thanksgiving, 2018, dust and all!



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Thank you,
Julie@PinkDoxies.com


Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.


Linking up with~
Esther's WOW



11 comments:

audrey said...

Good to know about the Jelly rolls. I have only used one before and never thought about the cutting accuracy overall! Your quilt is just fantastic. So much detail in your stitching. It's obvious that you thoroughly enjoy doing it! Had to smile at your explanation at all the adjustments. Women seem to be cursed with dealing with those sorts of things regardless of where it comes from!

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

It's looking fabulous. Good luck with the rest. Happy Thanksgiving. I quilt with shoes on, both on my longarm and my domestic -- I'm short and need the height LOL

Linda Swanekamp said...

Julie, Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you get all the dinner done and family loves it. The quilt is gorgeous- much more alive than with a panto. I have the shoe off for piecing, but I cannot stand at the long arm barefoot without serious arch problems. A couple of longarmers that quilt show quilts for others use cotton batting on the bottom and then wool batting on top. They say it makes the best poofiness. Hate jelly rolls. The last quilt I did with them was teeth grinding.

piecefulwendy said...

I've had that same experience with pre-cuts, so I approach them a bit differently now. What a beautiful quilt! My house is never as clean as my friends' homes. I missed the classes on how to keep your house clean longer than a day. haha! Enjoy your Thanksgiving, Julie!

Barb Neiwert said...

Isn't it fun to do things just for you? In our world, that can be a rarity. Fun to know you mark out your design on the right-hand corner. I have started snapping a photo of the top, because once I come down to the bottom, I have forgotten 'exactly' what I quilted on those top corners, lol! Photographic evidence is my cheat sheet. Lovely quilting, and now you have a finish! Happy Thanksgiving!

Kate said...

The quilting is gorgeous! I agree Thanksgiving is about family, not about a clean house. Hope you have a lovely one.

KaHolly said...

I don’t buy precut for that very reason, but I have a few cluttering my shelves from wins or intentions of using them for something other that their size. Julie, this quilt is beautiful, honey, and the quilting defines its personality well. Barefoot? Not around here! Brr!

Beth said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Julie! Thanks for sharing parts of your life with us. You inspire me and motivate me, and I feel a kinship across the miles and through the wires.

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

I love the idea of using the pen to draw the lines and test what you want to do. I use a plexiglass I lay on the quilt to do a similar thing. And I keep it against the white wall to show me what I am doing when I get off track or confused. Which happens pretty often1 LOL.


Your quilting is beautiful (in spite of the dust). I kinda told everyone the same thing, If you want to look at my stitching, I am talking it back!

glen and the Basset Boyz

Rebecca Grace said...

I'm sorry you struggled with your precuts! I feel that pain. Your finished quilt is going to be gorgeous and no one will be looking at how seams match up with all that gorgeous QUILTING to distract them! I would love to see all of the rulers you are using. I'm still trying to figure out which rulers to buy, then realizing I don't really know what to do with them once they show up in my mailbox!

Angie in SoCal said...

LOL - I do remember some of those steps. The most aggravating one was pulling up those stockings as I had such stick legs in those days. The quilting is fab on your quilt. For such a large quilt, what pens do you or how many. Does the blue go away with water spritzed on the section? Our Thanksgiving was at the other side of the family - an easy time of it. Blessings,
Angie