Hello everyone,
I have been having lots of fun quilting edge to edge quilts for myself, charity, and the public. I decided it was time to have a bit of a challenge for myself and to extend my skills and learning in the space of "Custom Quilting". Last summer I created a very Modern quilt top at a retreat that I attended. I decided to take on the following challenge for this quilt top be be quilted:
1. Design my own digital blocks for the quilt
2. Quilt the blocks
Now this might not seem like a large challenge to you, but the blocks are 17 inches and my longarm throat space is 17.5. I've also never designed a block from start to finish and had it quilt out in such a large space. My theory was to make the blocks pleasing to they eye and not to have over complicated blocks. Below is a picture of the quilt top and the blocks that I designed:
I have been having lots of fun quilting edge to edge quilts for myself, charity, and the public. I decided it was time to have a bit of a challenge for myself and to extend my skills and learning in the space of "Custom Quilting". Last summer I created a very Modern quilt top at a retreat that I attended. I decided to take on the following challenge for this quilt top be be quilted:
1. Design my own digital blocks for the quilt
2. Quilt the blocks
Now this might not seem like a large challenge to you, but the blocks are 17 inches and my longarm throat space is 17.5. I've also never designed a block from start to finish and had it quilt out in such a large space. My theory was to make the blocks pleasing to they eye and not to have over complicated blocks. Below is a picture of the quilt top and the blocks that I designed:
Lessons Learned:
Stitch in Ditch (SID)
1. SID on curved lines is really not very easy to do on a long arm by hand.
2. SID using your multi-placement border feature in Quilt Path (software) can help remedy this.
3. SID using more points on multi-feature AND Pins makes for near perfect SID results.
Stitch in Ditch (SID)
1. SID on curved lines is really not very easy to do on a long arm by hand.
2. SID using your multi-placement border feature in Quilt Path (software) can help remedy this.
3. SID using more points on multi-feature AND Pins makes for near perfect SID results.
Placement of blocks:
1. My Big Circle blocks vary in size due to the fact that I stretched the pattern for each block. Perhaps I needed needed to use the same size in each block and not use the "stretch" feature in block placement.
Thread:
1. I used a silver thread as I thought it would pop in the gray area and blend in the checkerboard blocks. This choice of thread spotlights that the "Big Circle" blocks are different sizes. Next time I would consider using two threads, using a darker thread on the gray to blend.
Here is the finished project. There are a few spots where I wished things looked a little cleaner, but overall not a bad result. :)
1. My Big Circle blocks vary in size due to the fact that I stretched the pattern for each block. Perhaps I needed needed to use the same size in each block and not use the "stretch" feature in block placement.
Thread:
1. I used a silver thread as I thought it would pop in the gray area and blend in the checkerboard blocks. This choice of thread spotlights that the "Big Circle" blocks are different sizes. Next time I would consider using two threads, using a darker thread on the gray to blend.
Here is the finished project. There are a few spots where I wished things looked a little cleaner, but overall not a bad result. :)