LadyLake Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 I just finished a fun quilt. My customer is relatively new to quilting, but brings with her a background in beading and a deep artistic sense, which really shows in her quilts. This one is a couch lap quilt as a wedding shower gift for her son and his finance'. The block pattern represents a wedding ring, and she said she wanted an overall in the center with circles on the border. I did a medium density worm meander, then used my Quiltazoid to create the circles. I filled the circles with more worm meander, using thread colors to complement the fabric piecing. I had marked with chalk the centerline for positioning the circles and liked it so well, I decided to quilt it in. It is a Quilters Dream cotton select batt. Threads were Floriani (Rust), Bottom Line (Black) and Rainbows (Almond Bark), with a medium blue Bottom Line in pre-wound bobbins. Thanks for looking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterfly Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Joan, I like what you did a lot. Those circles are really cool! Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borderline Quilter Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 I want one....that is great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 I Like it a lot Joan, it beautiful. Corey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norma H Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Those circles are great. I need to PPP with my QZ more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmilner Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 That is a cool quilt and I love what you have done with the quilting!! Nice circles and meanders! I have a lot of those same fabrics in my leftovers stash....hmmmmm. Donna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 I too love the circles. They look like Chinese coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Who knew worms could be so lovely:D. Love it Joan thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne from Guam Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Joan, what a beautiful quilt and your quilting really makes it special. I have a question for you: How did you decide to use a blue thread in the bobbin? And when you use a different color in the bobbin than the top thread, aren't you concerned that your tension will change somewhere along the line and that you will get those dreaded dots of a different color on the top? I also was wondering when you use pre-wound bobbins, how do you have enough pre-wounds on hand in the right color? Or, do you order lots of neutrals and hope something matches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewcrazy4quilting Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 LOVE it!!! Your quilting design is the perfect complement for the piecing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Very Pretty. Keep going Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaB Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Oh I love animal prints and this quilt is just gorgeous.....I love how you've quilted it as well.....very well executed for sure.....your customer will ceretainly love it..... GREAT JOB..... :D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyLake Posted August 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Originally posted by Anne from Guam I have a question for you: How did you decide to use a blue thread in the bobbin? And when you use a different color in the bobbin than the top thread, aren't you concerned that your tension will change somewhere along the line and that you will get those dreaded dots of a different color on the top? I also was wondering when you use pre-wound bobbins, how do you have enough pre-wounds on hand in the right color? Or, do you order lots of neutrals and hope something matches? I just double-checked the bobbin thread color when you asked that, Anne, and it is the BL 618 'Medium Brown' (not blue -- that was the last quilt!). As far as using a different color from the top, I do it all of the time because I have the least tension problems with the Bottom Line pre-wounds and it saves making decisions if I use the same type of thread in the bobbin all the time. I started out just buying a 12 bobbin pack of 2-3 neutrals (sage, taupe, medium brown). Then, when I became comfortable that this was a good idea, I have gradually been adding more colors to my supply, and I order either a half gross (72 bobbins) or a gross (144 bobbins) of each color. Right now, I've added gold, medium red, lt blue and med blue. When I pick a top thread, I choose the bobbin color that blends best. For the most part, I don't have trouble with the bobbin showing through to the top -- I think that I have the bobbin case tension fairly tight and I go looser with the top thread. Many of the quilts I quilt are colorful custom quilts, and I generally use lots of different thread colors, so it is not much of an issue. When I do get a plainer quilt that just needs an overall, I am more careful about matching top and bottom thread color. I still have a large supply of Aurifil cotton, both 40wt and 28wt., which I bought LOTS of when I first started. If I use it on the top, I use 40wt Aurifil on the bottom. Besides Superior Threads, I recently bought almost the full line of Floriani regular and metallic. It seems similar to Glide. But I have so much thread, that I haven't even delved into all the new thread brands you all talk about. I have also found that since I first started longarming in 2003, there is a constant array of new gadgets and products. You could spend all of your time buying and installing/trying out everything. So, I don't pay a lot of attention to new things, unless I'm having a problem with my old way of doing things. Okay, guess I'm feeling chatty tonight!!!!! :P:P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaLKB Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Love it............great quilting ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne from Guam Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Thanks Joan, I like to hear these kinds of comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Grady Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Love, love, love it! Awesome quilt and awesome quilting. Thanks for the detailed comments. It's so helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Joan, Thank you for all the detailed information about how you use threads, bobbin and top---and I was so relieved to hear another quilter runs a "tight" bobbin, with a loose top thread---and it all ends up "balancing". I've been getting such a high reading on my Towa gauge, and have given up trying to loosen it down to what I hear other quilters have their Towa reading at. Mainly because I have such a nice balanced stitch---so now I just go with the flow, as they say. And, yes, it's very easy to get caught up in buying all the new threads, and testing them out, and it could go on literally forever! It can be fun, but expensive, and time consuming too. I'm reducing my thread stash to just a few threads, same with the bobbin threads. I feel liberated in an odd way! Sold all my King Tut, sold all my Molly Polly too. Now I'm down to So-Fine, Lava and Omni---That's it. And I plan to keep it that way (said with a struggling whine) :) I love your quilting designs, and the quilt is beautiful!:) Thank you so much for sharing how you arrived at the design, what threads and batting you used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankiequilter Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Very nice! The quilting certainly compliments the quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judy Ingram Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Now that is one cool quilt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisee Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 This Forum is such a good place for learning about all aspects of LAing (oh , and life in general actually) You all VERY generously share you experiences so that the Forum is such a learning experince. THANK YOU everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachside Quilter Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Fabulous quilting, Joan! Love that border treatment; and I agree, to me it resembles Chinese coins. Very unusual! Well Done!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oma Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 It's a very cool quilt. I shall use the idea to use up a bunch of animal print fat quarters I messed up when I cut them for another quilt (per the instructor of the class and she was WAY off) and. It was frustrating when I thought they were a lost cause because I had been collecting them for quite a while. I'm glad I put them away for another day. The day is here. Thanks so much for showing this quilt. As usual, your quilting it beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quilted charm Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 That is so creative. To take a plain meander and make it look so special. I also am suprised to say I like her color and fabric choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyLake Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 You can't see very well, but my customer asked me to attach the binding by machine because she is in a hurry. I did a decorative chicken feet stitch in black. I'm amazed at how much quicker it is to machine attach it this way -- I think we should boycott handstitching it to the back!!:P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaLKB Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 I do almost ALL my own quilts totally by machine unless I am entering it in a competition. Then the quilt judge police aren't too fond of it. With so many pretty stitches on our DSMs, it's a shame not to use them more for bindings. Angie I can so relate to your statement about thread. I have 4.....So Fine, Lava, Omni and New Brytes. It IS very hard to stay away from all the pretty new ones that keep coming out though!!! :) "Now I'm down to So-Fine, Lava and Omni---That's it. And I plan to keep it that way (said with a struggling whine)" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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