now that polly the pfaff is home with her new momma harper's quilt can finally get finished! i had my first lesson on polly this weekend at sawyer's and it was great! i feel way less intimidated by all it's fancy schmancy features and a lot of the things i've been frightened of, namely buttonholes, have been conquered! i cannot wait to make something with buttonholes now! next lesson - zippers! i cannot wait.
i don't feel ready to give you all a full review of the pfaff ambition 1.0 yet (i haven't sewn enough on her yet) but what i can say so far is that i have never loved an inanimate object sooo much and that's saying a lot cause my camera and dyson vacuum are a close 2nd and 3rd. there is something about saving, dreaming and wishing for an item for so long and then when you finally get it....sheer bliss! i've waited 2 years for this sewing machine so i'm in my honeymoon phase with her. she sews smooth as butter, is so quiet it amazes me constantly, the stitches are gorgeous, she powers through more layers than i have ever been able to sew without a skip or jump, and the features are just...well....wowsa! i'm a very satisfied customer at the moment and would already highly recommend this machine to anyone looking for a great powerhouse with all the bells and whistles for everyday sewing, layers, quilting and embroidery...you name it, polly does it!
back back to the quilt. for those of you who haven't seen the quilt i'm working on for harper this is it. you can also see my other posts on her quilt here and here and i used this tutorial. i've decided to go with a red cotton back. i'm still stumped on what to do for the binding though. i don't have any left of the "it's a hoot" line by momo from moda that i love so would have to reorder to do that and i don't really want to...lol...i'm lazy that way. i've thought about not doing a binding and just using bias tape or doing rae's method without it. what do you guys think? i could use some help with this.
i'm also stuck on the quilting still. i'm drawn to the idea of quilting the rectangle shape inside each box about 1\4" in from the seams. i thought that may look pretty. i love the look of quilts with the lines done all over but think that may be way too busy of a look with all the pattern going on that i used. i like the simplicity of it right now and don't want to busy it up too much
i'm also extremely stumped on the color of the thread i'm quilting with. i like the idea of the back having some quilting on it so it's not just plain red but am worried that a white thread (which i would probably want to use on the front) would look ugly on the back. what color would you use for the bobbin thread to add some pizzaz to it without it looking garish? phew that's a lot of questions for you all...but i need another pair of eyes. i've got the scraps of the fabric line i used (the first pic in this post) and was also thinking about doing something fun with those on the back but i'll leave that as a surprise :)
i started working on this quilt when she was a baby so i'm dying for it to be done. i stare at it all the time wishing we could snugggle up with it already. i knew i was going to get the new sewing machine so i decided not to even attempt quilting it with my old demon one and to hold off until polly got home. i know it's going to be so much fun to try on the new machine.
are any of you working on a quilt right now? do you have any tips and suggestions to give me to help a girl out? i always learn so much from you guys when we chat quilting. it's so fun! i'd love to see what you are all working on so comment below!
Ohh..*love*! I'm working on a "It's a Hoot" baby quilt right now too. I can't wait to keep seeing pictures! Darling. ;)
ReplyDeleteDo you have enough scraps to sew you own binding from them all??? I know it will take some time, but maybe throwing some of the plain colours in too, to pull it all together???
ReplyDeleteGood luck, this is always the hardest part for me!
Hooray for sewing machine happiness. I am hoping to begin a quilt after we get settled in our little abode.
ReplyDeleteI am with you. I don't really fancy that traditional quiltted look. I like the idea of doing squares. Or may be straight lines in varying directions in each square? Then the back would look like a parquet floor.
ReplyDeleteAnd what about a teal thread for the bobbin?
I'm sure you've thought of this...but be sure that red won't leak a drop of dye when you wash it!
ReplyDeleteGray is always a good choice for quilting thread...I would hesitate doing rectangles--thinking of tying off and burying four threads on every single square sounds like a lot of work and I HATE finishing work. Too impatient! I would probably just do horizontal lines, simple and clean! And a solid, border of bias tape (aqua?) would be a good choice.
I love, love your fabric choices, this busyness is so much fun and just right!
First, love the fabrics! Your taste continues to inspire me ^_^
ReplyDeleteSecond, I am going to finish gathering supplies soon for making my daughter Violet's quilt. Sort of pathetic that she will be turning 1 next month and I haven't made her one yet, but oh well! That's life with two little ones, right?
I'm right there with you on not knowing how I want to quilt or bind it. Right now I am considering trying the "inside out" method of finishing it, which is what I did for the quilted playmat tute off purl bee. But the faux binding looks like a potential winner too! My other fallback is using the kona medium grey that I will be using on in the quilt itself.
I think that gray thread would look really nice with the red backing you have. That's probably what I will end up using on mine. But my mind is so tangled that nothing is really set in stone until it is done!
Hooray for quilts! They are my favorite thing to sew. I'm with Megan, I did a quilt doing the rectangles, and it was a ton of work to do all the tying off. Not doing that again! If you are concerned about the quilting being too busy, I'd do the "in the ditch" technique, it's the least intrusive to the pattern but looks more finished than tying. I'm a fan of Rae's method, it always looks great, but bias tape feels more fancy to me, so I usually go with that. A solid color would be my pick. For the thread... You can always try clear if you are nervous. Otherwise, I'd pick a light color like orange or gray, that way, if the white pulls through the back accidentally, it won't be so obvious. (happens to me sometimes, but maybe not you with your fancy new machine!) Good luck!
ReplyDeleteIf it were me, I'd do turquoise thread and 1/4 inch horizontal quilting above and below each row (from the back it would be one long rectangle on each row). And... a sold turquoise binding matching the quilting thread.
ReplyDeleteMy quilt is stalled too. I'm waiting for our sewing club to start up later this month to pick it up again!
Thanks for all the great tips everyone!
ReplyDeleteI must have worded myself wrong up in the post because I definitely DON'T want to do tying. I don't like it. I'll have to go back and edit that later...oops. Sorry if you all read it wrong. I definitely want to quilt, just not sure what pattern will go the best and be the least distracting from the pattern.
I also LOVE the idea of grey for the quilt you guys! I am going to go with that I think! That should be pretty!
Thanks so much for all of your comments!
I love how it's turning out!! The fabrics you chose are perfect... I've got about 5 quilts in progress right now so you are not alone!!
ReplyDeleteRed backing is going to be sooo cute! For binding I would do a solid turquoise/aqua and for the bobbin thread I would either do pink or turquoise/aqua. I love the idea of stitching inside each rectangle, will be super cute to see the brick pattern on the back too. Can't wait to see it finished ;)
ReplyDeletesooo pretty!!! i love the colors!! you are inspiring me to get my next quilt started!!!
ReplyDeleteFor the bobbin thread, I suggest a matching red. You will see the pattern of the quilting without a distracting contrast of colours.
ReplyDeleteFor the quilting, call me crazy, but because the brick pattern is so strong and linear, I think you should do something curving. I think various sizes of circles (done with white thread on top) would look really cool!
Oh, I love the quilt. I'm working on my first one too and am stalled at the backing and binding as well. I'm going to look at the tutorials you linked to...thanks for them.
ReplyDeleteLike others have suggested, a turquoise binding would be nice. Turquoise and red always look nice together and would complement your quilt top. I'm doing a very simple quilting pattern, straight lines across in part because this is my fist quilt and I really have no idea what I'm doing and second, I was following this pattern and tutorial by Kate Conklin http://kateconklindesigns.blogspot.com/2010/03/adelaides-quilt.html and that's what she has done. I love it.
Good luck!
It really is super pretty! I think quilting inside all of the rectangles would add lovely texture, but all those stops and starts will be time-consuming and may allow threads to unravel. Maybe horizontal-only quilting in irregular widths? And, me, I'm always working on a quilt! Right now, I'm hand quilting my Loulouthi Tiles quilt.
ReplyDelete@Rachel Hauser
ReplyDeleteYes! That is what I meant by "tying and burying" the threads. For every rectangle you would need to knot the threads (backstitching would be sloppy) and then bury the threads with a needle under the first layer because just trimming would also be sloppy and if they came undone yer screwed.
"starting and stopping" make much more sense!
I really like the idea of quilting in the boxes 1/4 inch in or just go horizontal and vertical edge to edge (then you don't have to worry about tying off the stitches). I have quilted a bunch of quilts that way with a 1 inch checker board pattern and it looks awesome...As to the stitches showing on the back, I always buy a back with a print so no one can see my awful stitches up close whether I am machine quilting or hand quilting. Do not use bias tape for your binding (low quality fabric is what that is made from). Sometimes it is fun to use the scraps left from the quilt and make a binding from them that is multi-colored, but I think a turquoise would really provide a great finishing touch. As long as the edges of your quilt are straight and not rounded you do not need bias strips for binding, and won't need as much fabric. Please if you have any questions let me know I've been quilting for over 16 years! jefftanyaheather@bresnan.net
ReplyDeleteI am with Amy B...when I was reading the post horizontal stripes in the aqua/turqoise and a matching binding was what I was thinking...red and aqua is one of my fave combinations.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the sewing machine...I just started saving to buy my new one. I currently sew on a close to 20 year old Kenmore. Your posts on what to look for in a new machine have been so great. Thanks!!!
Have you considered a step pattern for the quilting? You could offset it so it went just inside two edges of each box, but go straight up to the next one - does that make sense? You'd get something of a zig zag pattern working it's way across the back of the quilt, but no tying off endlessly, as you can work from one edge of the quilt to another. You're quilt is beautiful - my first quilt is sitting in a ag upstairs, in large blocks... As I'm not feeling brave enough to deal with the size it'll e when it's all sewn together! Maybe with a new machine I'd feel more strong.....!
ReplyDeleteI finished my little Violet quilt if you are interested in seeing it! I thought it was fun that we were making quilts for our little second babies at the same time. Oh, and maybe also cute that Violet's name was almost.....Harper! Ha!
ReplyDeletehttp://girllikethesea.blogspot.com/