Monday, May 07, 2007

Day 7

A whole week with no new fabric. So far so good BUT tomorrow I have to go somewhere to get some quilt binding. So wish me luck!

Wanna see a rare sight around my house? Even rarer than borders on my quilt tops? Look at this!
Yep that's the sight of a quilt being smooshed thru my sewing machine and QUILTED! It's only been basted for 3 years so it's about time. LOL! And it's not some little wall-hanging either. This is a largish twin/smallish double. This and it's companion will be going to the tornado victims in Kansas. The companion quilt has been quilted for several years except the borders. Now this one is also quilted except for borders. I'll get those borders done and the bindings on over the next few days so I can get these mailed out before postage goes up Monday.

I just did quick in-the-ditch stitching around the blocks but my new machine did them beautifully. No dragging of the quilt on the bed and no tension problems. Now to see how it does on free-motion tomorrow as I think I'll do a simple meander in the borders.

I really don't enjoy machine quilting and use the excuse that I'm not good at it to not finish my quilts. But you know if I never do any how will I get good at it? And I did rather enjoy myself tonight. So I'll be quilting more of my own quilts this summer and probably donating them locally or to special circumstances like the Kansas tornado victims. I'm really committed to finishing some of my UFOs this summer and not just to top stage. I want to be able to call myself a quilter and not just a topper.

13 comments:

Susan H. said...

I'm glad the horses are FINALLY finding a home. Great job this week. Just finishing work for today. Maybe I'll get to post my progress report tomorrow or Wednesday night. Til then, catching a couple of blogs a night.

Fiona said...

At this rate you'll have loads of finishes by the end of the sunmmer. I feel the same about the quilting - I need to do it to get better at it but I always worry that I'm going to 'ruin' a perfectly good top. At the end of the day only practice makes perfect I suppose.

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

Super good job Nancy! I send my tops out, but am leaning toward starting to do some of the smaller ones myself. Toddler quilts I almost always do myself and once you find the rhythm, it does go pretty good. Glad to hear that your new sewing machine is up to the challenge! And truly, someone is really going to love your donation quilts!

Cheers!

Evelyn

Sweet P said...

That quilt looks gorgeous. You're braver than me. I'm not ready to machine quilt a project as big as that one. Good luck!

Gail said...

Yay, Nancy! You did it, and you will get better and enjoy it more as you practice.

Marla said...

You have been very busy this week. Quilting, cleaning and blogging...sound like a good week. I love machine quilting. I only wish I didn't dislike making the back and basting! It's what gets me stuck every time!

Mama Spark said...

Good job! I don't like to do the quilting part much. I *can* I just don't like to do it. Hurts my shoulders. I have a good friend with a long arm and well...you know. Keep working!!

QuiltingFitzy said...

Great idea regarding the donations Nancy.

How's that room comin' girlfriend? Geez, sorry, I've forgotten to nag you, lol.

Vicky said...

Your 'smooshing' looks great! I am fully capable of machine quilting myself, but I'm lazy about getting them pin pasted. It's easier to send them out - and they look better, too! :)

One week!!!!! Good going!!!! Now just get that binding and get your hiney out of that store!!

You're really on a roll!

(Hugs)

Mary Johnson said...

That's great Nancy, I sent some HeartStrings quilts to Kansas yesterday.

I quilted on a DSM for a couple years before getting my longarm - did several queen size but mostly large ones like this one you're doing - twin or doubles. It wasn't too bad esp. if I kept to fairly simple quilting - meandering, hearts, stars, etc.

Linda C said...

Way to stick with it, Nancy! Warm Wishes quilt, it looks like? That is a lot of quilt to cram in there so good to know that your machine is handling it well. I find that the more pins you remove, the easier it gets to do the job.

Meredith said...

I have been on no buy since November 2006 you can do it. That is a neat photo of machine quilting. Please post a photo when it is finished.

Cher said...

hip hip hooray for doing the quilting yourself! It's a great feeling to finish a quilt up and send it off for a good cause. Way to go Nancy!