Winter Quilt [Finished]

[reishka]

Cross-posted to my own journal

So, I initially was going to only make the bias tape and pin it, and save the stitching for tomorrow. Well, that plan went out the window as I got into a groove and I just plowed through it. For the record: I absolutely hate bias tape. It is probably the only part I hate about quilting -- stitching it to the quilt. Maybe there's some trick, but I ALWAYS seem to 'un-catch' part of it on the back every so often, so then I have to go back, rip out stitches, and stitch again. On this one, I didn't bother to rip out the stitches - the fabric is dark enough that I figure if you go looking THAT close at it, you deserve to find my mistakes... lol.

This quilt would have been a LOT easier if I could have used my darning foot... unfortunately, no matter what I did, I couldn't get the tension right with the thread that I was using. The thread is a metallic silver on the top and black in the bobbin, and the silver gave me nothing but trouble (any tips?). So the ENTIRE QUILT is stitched using a walking foot. It sucked, but it was still easier than stitching it with a regular foot. Even with that, the tension isn't QUITE right in some places. When you look at the back, you can see silver thread poking though in some places. It doesn't bother me a whole lot, but now I know for the future: Metallic threads suck.

So now, without further ado, some photos (behind the cut):
(Please ignore how messy my apartment is. I'm in the middle of moving, so stuff is everywhere right now; also, the colour is correct in the second photo. The first one was taken with a flash, and the colours aren't accurate)

Comments

[seryn]

This is adorable!

Using the dark fabric so you could hide any misplaced edge finishing stitches is genius!

Sorry you struggled with the quilting part. I'm not one who could advise you on that since my experience with sewing machine feet is, "There's the one that's attached, right?" But I will take your advice on the metallic threads.

Is the quilting stitch done in a random pattern or was that part of the theme. I can't tell from the pictures. I'm sure I'll be embarrassed if I'm supposed to be able to see that you quilted it with bubble letters spelling "Frosty" or made snowman outlines... but regardless of my nosiness about your design process, I do love how it came out.

[reishka]

Thank you! There's no real pattern to the stitching. No planning or anything beyond making it swirly and asking myself "where have I not stitched yet?" So, don't worry about trying to see a pattern when there isn't one. :)

Part of me wonders if my problems stem from the fact that I've never had my machine serviced and it's got a lot of little problems that, on their own, aren't any trouble, but when you add them all together make for a nuisance. I wanted to get through this project and then take my machine in, so hopefully next time things work out better.

[seryn]

Someone else posted recently about how bobbins made all the difference, so probably sewing machines are fiddly... Will you be able to get them to test out the darning foot or was that a problem because of the metallic thread?

I've only done one mini quilt and showed it to someone who said, "But you should have quilted it with your name scrolling across!" So I tend to think of quilters (people who make real size ones) as being a bit crazy that way. If your layers don't come apart, it's all good with me!

[reishka]

I think it was a problem with the thread moreso than the bobbin. Usually when I have bobbin troubles, the bobbin thread gets all bunched up IN the machine. This was more like the metallic thread was becoming 'feathery' or 'eyelashing' on the bottom of the quilt (I used metallic on top and then regular black thread on the bottom). That's usually some kind of tensioning issue. Normally I can work it out by adjusting my machine, but it seemed no matter what I did it kept wanting to screw up. When I switched to using the walking foot (so called because it pulls the fabric from both the top AND the bottom of the fabric, and helps it 'walk' along) it was much better and didn't seem to feather as much. I'm thinking that maybe the metallic thread is just picky, and when using the darning foot I couldn't keep my stitches as evenly spaced apart... which might have attributed to the feathering.

Or I could be totally wrong! :)

I think this is only my third legitimate quilt. Cora's quilt was my second, and I made a quilt two years ago as a kotatsu blanket (a kotatsu is a table that is low to the ground with a heating element underneath. You throw a large blanket over the top to keep the heat trapped). I need to go back and re-stitch that one, however, since it wasn't done very well. I've also done a quilted tea-cozy, but I don't think that counts!

I'm much like you, though -- if it all stays together, then I'm happy with it. Maybe as I become more experienced I'll try some more fancy things, but I'm pretty happy with things as they are! :)

[corrvin]

How adorable!

Good show on the bias tape, I have that same problem with letting the underside escape from the stitch line. I keep thinking that there ought to be a way to fold the tape so it's a fair bit wider on the underside. (Mostly, though, it slips out because I'm not paying attention.)

[reishka]

Thank you! I think next time I'm going to experiment with exactly that idea -- in making the bias tape, not pressing it directly in half, but making one side a bit wider than the other. Or potentially doing a zig-zag or other decorative stitch over the edges. Or maybe covering the seam with ric-rac! :)

Mostly, though, I'm just lazy. By the time I get to the point of putting on the bias tape, I'm so over working on the project... :)