That part did not go too badly. I used the walking foot and just marked the center of the arc with a pin, aiming to curve at midpoint. There was quilt pushing and shoving required but since the stitching was all at the edge, it was not too much of an upper body workout.
Sunday's job was much harder--completing all the stippling in the white sections. Nightmare! The top thread must have broken at least 40 times, I ran out of bobbin thread multiple other times, broke a needle once, and changed the needle size once. About three times I had to stop and clean the bobbin case of fuzz. Skipped stitches were occurring repeatedly until I removed the Supreme Slider. Not sure why that was a problem, maybe I was just trying to move too fast, plus I was using a 40 weight thread that was 100% cotton and not very tightly wound. It was a Mettler thread, which I have used before without these issues. All in all it was a terrifically frustrating day at the sewing machine, requiring multiple rest periods, chocolate, Advil, and the distraction of the LA Times Sunday Crossword puzzle (which I finished).
Finally it was all completed at 9:45 PM. The back looks pretty good.
Thankfully I didn't run out of thread, though it was pretty close! See more Design Walls on Judy's blog.
15 comments:
Boy do I remember days of fighting a quilt on my DSM....lots of patience needed for sure! Enjoyed the post...with a wee bit of humor.
I have done quilts before we I have to keep eyeing the thread every second...anxious to finish before the thread runs out.
Glad you got it finished....
Yay! You finished quilting it. Phew. We've all been there, I've often felt like throwing the whole lot out of the window, but got through it in the end.
It looks great. See what chocolate can do for us??? It is a cure-all at my house.
It may have been a trial - but when she's away and still wrapped in your hugs, it will all be worth it *s*
Way to go! I am so proud of you for sticking with it! I feel your frustration...been there!
This is why I dislike machine quilting and LOVE handquilting, less of a tussle!! My hand quilting designs are simpler but I am starting to have project back up as I cannot get them done as fast as I should to keep up with my quilt top production.
Very pretty indeed! Your thread couldn't have been closer. I have a few of those frustrating days and sometimes I just need to step away from the machine and try again later. I love your stitches.
Great work! Beautiful quilt! I hear your pain. I plan to quilt many quilts this year on my DSM. I try not to do anything fancy - thread, stitching or otherwise:) Glad you got it done in time.
Well done! the sense of satisfaction when you see the finished quilting is worth the upper body work out, breaking threads and needles and wrestling! I am sure Erica will treasure the quilt.
I wonder if threads get old (like 5-6 years in my case.) The thread I've used forever has been giving me the blues lately too. I've figured out that if I used on the vertical spool holder it doesn't give me problems. Before I could use the thread anyway I wanted. I'm not using the thread anymore but and using what I have to get it out of my stash. I just hope the new thread I have sitting around to replace it will not give me trouble as I've now had it for 2-3 years.
We've all had those days Annie, but you persevered and the stippling looks fantastic.
(Yes a chocolate break will work wonders!) Congrats on finishing the crossword too.
The quilting looks great. Hope you are feeling that all the frustration was worth the finish. Congratulations!
Beautiful quilting! I feel your quilting pain.....those can be frustrating days. Skipped stitches drive me nuts! I have trouble with that when I go too fast.....I've also heard that a larger needle can help. You end result is amazing :)
I realize this is an old thread (ha ha) but I wanted to reply anyway. I just got a supreme slider and I also had trouble with skipped stitches, which I hadn't had before. I have a Pfaff Quilt Expression. It is not wonderful for free motion quilting, but skipped stitches have not been a problem. And I don't fmq super fast. Things were fine as soon as I removed the supreme slider. maybe it just doesn't get along with my machine. colorwisequilts@gmail.com
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