Saturday was the Big Event here at VT, where the students go out into the community for a day of service. Three friends and I went to a house in town to help clear out some tree branches. Some people hate yardwork, but I really enjoyed it. It was sunny and breezy, and felt like spring for the first time since last spring, haha. It was really nice being outside.
Side note, it snowed about 6 inches on Tursday, and then was 60 degrees on Friday. That's Blacksburg for you.
But I finished so many things this weekend! I started and finished my Sister's Ten Blocks, basted the Cheery Squares quilt, and finished the Scrappy Trip Along top.
Lots of trimming.
And I realized that my blocks look very much like the candy I was eating.
My Lady of the Lake blocks!
And a Scrappy Trip that turned out quite nice.
I still need to figure out a border and a back for the STA, but I'm not in any hurry right now.
Also, I worked on my free motion quilting today. I'm getting better for sure, but it's still going to take some time before I'm happy enough with it to quilt the Cheery Squares quilt.
I practiced on some scrap purple fabric, and then on a little mini quilt I whipped up with the leftover fabric I had from the Cheery Squares. It looks alright, I'm still trying to figure it all out. However, I noticed that on the back, I have lots of stitches pulling.
It's kind of hard to see, but there you go. I think it's because I still don't have great control. Do any of you have any tips to minimize that?
Linking up to Made in Home for Let's Get Acquainted!
those are some really neat quilts you're working on! love the bright fruity colors of the blocks! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! I think I ate too many pieces of inspiration candy though, haha.
DeleteHello Couch Meow,
ReplyDeleteGreat work with the little triangles, and I absolutely love the scrappy trips!
Some machines need to have the tension set differently for FMQ. I suggest you try it with a plain cotton backing - the machine might be objecting to the fluffy stuff.
Love from England,
Muv
I'll check the tension setting on my machine, thanks for the tip! I tried with a cotton backing and it pulled the same way, I think it may just be my inexperience. I just need practice and to get to know my machine better, I suppose.
DeleteLOVE the scrap blanket, the lady of the lakes blocks are fab!
ReplyDeletevisiting from made in home :D
Thank you so much!
DeleteSuch cute projects! Love all the triangles. :)
ReplyDeleteI was so pleased with how they turned out :) The fabric itself is very crisp and stiff too, they made perfectly beautiful tiny half square triangles. I love it, haha
DeleteWonderful projects. Your lady of the lake blocks look fabulous. Nice colours on the scrappy trip.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I was afraid the colors would turn out really crazy on the STA, but I was pleasantly surprised :)
DeleteGreat projects! It looks like you need to turn up your tension a little--say it is at a 4 now, try turning it to 5, quilt a little (make a couple of loops), then turn it up to 6, quilt a little...figure out what works with that thread. I usually try on a scrap "quilt" to make sure my tension is right. Every type of thread, fabric and batting will be a little different, so I try to practice on as similar a scrap quilt as possible. The looser loops on your quilt may also be from inconsistent speed--most likely you're moving the fabric too fast for how fast you're running your machine. Hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips! How fast should the machine run? I tried it on a few different speeds, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I read somewhere that your machine should be on the fastest speed setting, but that felt like I was being dragged behind a racecar and it stressed me out, haha.
DeleteCheck out Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project. She has tons of videos to help with FMQ plus over 365 designs on video to get ideas. When ever I get stuck I just go over and browse and find my answers....good luck. Love the candy colored blocks!!
ReplyDeleteWow, that was a productive weekend! I am *so* behind on my BOM blocks... it's a little embarrassing. All the advice about tension is great. I also had trouble when I would try to do curves too fast, though. That didn't really have to do with the machine's tension- just my over zealous movement of the quilt!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what you do with the quilt borders!
Love your scrappy trip! Thanks for sharing in let's get acquainted!
ReplyDeleteI envy your productive weekend and everything looks great! I love the BOM blocks and can't wait to see the STA quilt move towards a finish; thanks for the fun post.
ReplyDelete