Kwiltr Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 In anticipation of Lenni arriving, I made up this quilt with leftover flannel from a couple of Olaf quilts I made in the last year with a bit of stash added to it, to create a quilt I could practice on and would be suitable to donate to the local Quilts 4 Kids group I volunteer for. It will finish at 54" X 45". While it was more work quilting-wise than I would normally put into a donation quilt, I wanted structured practice, so I threw the book at it, so to speak. I am a rank amateur, and only quilt for myself. On this project I tried a few new to me designs and some tried and true from my repertoire built on my Sweet 16 Sitdown. I recently took some classes with Krista Withers (Awesome btw :)) and she suggested we try our hand at doing grid work on the longarm without rulers. So of course I had to try it! The triple lined grid near the bottom of the quilt was done freehand. I just marked a single line 1 1/2" grid with disappearing marker! And went for it. While I realize it isn't as perfect as a ruler stitched grid, it's a pretty awesome outcome for a first attempt, IMHO. Marking to stitched, about an hour! If you haven't tried it, you may want to. The quilt is complete with its warts, as I only ripped out when the bobbin ran out and left all the other bloopers in. I will never be a show quilter, but just enjoy the creative process and FMQ so much. Clearly, I have lots of areas to work on for improvement! I have a second similar top made up to do as well, but this one's done! Yay! I couldn't wait to share this, so thank you in advance for taking a peek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlnewell Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 On the contrary...I think you're well on your way to becoming a show quilter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilta93 Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 You're quilting is beautiful! Deb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail O Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 That's awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlsa3 Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 There is my type of quilting and then there is your type of quilting. I am very envious of your type of quilting. That's beautiful. Very well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 Great job. Your quilting looks great. Keep going..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 That is beautiful! You did a lot of great quilting on that quilt, someone is going to be very lucky to receive it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cagey Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 Kathy: Your quilting looks outstanding. If you like to doing grid work without using rulers, Cindy Needham has some stencils that you can pounce and then follow freehand to give you what your achieved on your own. It may make marking the quilt top a little easier though. I use them with George, and they work great in my opinion. Thank you for sharing. Cagey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepsi Girl Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 Wow I think it's great! And no rulers I have a hard time making a straight line with rulers. And I'm envious of how you think, I just don't see the open spaces like many of the quilters, including you, do on this forum. Sadly my mind just doesn't work that way. Great Job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwiltr Posted December 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 30 minutes ago, Pepsi Girl said: Wow I think it's great! And no rulers I have a hard time making a straight line with rulers. And I'm envious of how you think, I just don't see the open spaces like many of the quilters, including you, do on this forum. Sadly my mind just doesn't work that way. Great Job! Thanks Pepsi Girl! Just to clarify, I did use a ruler on this quilt, a lot! What I didn't use the ruler for was just the one grid design in the bottom left area of the quilt which is not drawn on the 45° angle. I used a grid marker sterncil to get the spacing marked and then stitched it free hand from there, simply depending on the machine to keep a straight line of travel, side to side and up and down. As far as the open spaces, I made the quilt intentionally with a lot of negative space so I'd have room to play. Also, it was a big 'takeaway' from Krista's class to breakdown the quilt into manageable areas, rather than try to address it all at once. As she is a modern quilter, she is faced with a lot of negative space in quilts that can be overwhelming. Grid work is a great filler and provides a great opportunity to work on the smaller scale designs and provides great practice in control if you FMQ in the small spaces and ruler work to make the grid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwiltr Posted December 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 53 minutes ago, Cagey said: Kathy: Your quilting looks outstanding. If you like to doing grid work without using rulers, Cindy Needham has some stencils that you can pounce and then follow freehand to give you what your achieved on your own. It may make marking the quilt top a little easier though. I use them with George, and they work great in my opinion. Thank you for sharing. Cagey Thanks Cagey! I actually have Cindy Needham's stencils, and have used them for smaller designs. For a simple grid like I've used here, I always fall back on my June Tailor Grid Marker template. I also have Pounce chalk, but to be honest, I find I prefer to use markers as I like a more precise line than I get with the pounce. As I mentioned in the reply I just wrote for Pepsi Girl, I used my Longarm ruler for all the straight line work on the quilt, except the grid in the lower left portion of the quilt. I would be lost without my ruler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheri Butler Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 Wow Kathy, this is awesome!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tootsquilts Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Oh my goodness, that is just beautiful. Love what you created. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qltnbe Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Rank amateur? I think not! If you are that, then I am absolutely no good at all. Your work is wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iquiltit Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 awesome !!! very well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Row Studio Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 Kathy I love your practice quilt I understand being scared of the open spaces I have had a few this year and it always takes longer to quilt those. I love Krista Whithers approach I hope to some day take a class from her I could learn a lot from her I think. I love what you have shown us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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