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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Sometimes It Takes a Little Reconfiguration!

I finished this quilt top over a year ago! I finished the back and basted it in March! I started quilting it in July! I have promised to donate it in December! Why is this quilt taking so long??!! Because it has been a challenge (serious understatement) to quilt it. This middle section of the quilt has been nothing but bird's nests and shredded thread, along with numerous broken needles.


But the middle of the quilt is now finished - YIPPEE!

After Wednesday's post, Leah Day responded to my plea and gave me some ideas to try. I am a Quality Engineer by day, so finding out why a process is producing poor quality results IS what I do. So after going through a long check list (and hearing from many who have the same machine and problems - THANK YOU), I think I have figured out one (but not all) of the biggest culprits to my problem - DRAG! This quilt is just shy of twin size with bamboo batting and a pieced back. It is quite heavy. So stitching something this dense smack dab in the middle has been a challenge.

So Wednesday I ordered a Gidget 2 sewing table! It arrived on Friday, although the custom insert will not be here for 3 to 4 weeks.
Yesterday, I took the time to start to reconfigure my sewing room.

I can't drop my machine down yet, my acrylic table is too big. But this configuration does offer more support for FMQ even before I get the insert. This is what allowed me to finish quilting the middle. I did have to really grab the quilt to not let the weight pull the needle.

So my question for you all this week, how do I quilt the dimensional flying geese?

Should I just stitch in the ditch around the white rectangles or stitch something in the white areas around the "geese"????

I'm linking up today with Leah Day at The Free Motion Quilting Project for UFO Sunday! What's everyone else up today?

UFO Sundays on the Free Motion Quilting Project

Color Me Quilty!

 Pat
at

11 comments:

  1. Danih03October 21, 2012 at 10:16 AM

    Hmmm not sure about the geese. On the extension table that came with you machine, you MIGHT be able to just unscrew the legs,and just lay your acrylic extension table over the opening of your Gidget II table. That is what I plan to do if I ever get one of those;)

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  2. Jodi B.October 21, 2012 at 10:30 AM

    Hi Pat,
    I ordered the Gidget 11 table to take to retreats, but I use it full time. I have toyed with the idea of rearranging the sewing bubble as you have done. Thanks for sharing the photos and I look forward to hearing how it works out.

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  3. Gene BlackOctober 21, 2012 at 1:50 PM

    I don't have a clue how to quilt the geese. I haven't done any dimensional quilt tops for that very reason.

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  4. sulrossgrad (Emma)October 21, 2012 at 3:25 PM

    Quilt something curvy and cool in the white negative space and that will make your geese stand out!

    Just a thought,
    Emma

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  5. Cinder GalOctober 21, 2012 at 3:49 PM

    My thoughts are the same as Emma's.....fill in the negative space, maybe with pebbles, and it will make the "geese" really stand out.

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  6. CathyOctober 21, 2012 at 6:04 PM

    I sure know about bird's nests too ;-) I have no advice for the geese because I never know how to quilt things myself but I'll be watching for the advice you get and what you end up doing.

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  7. Quilting BabciaOctober 21, 2012 at 6:47 PM

    Your quilt looks lovely. I think I'd quilt down those little white triangles with large pebbles or some other curly curvy design to add dimension.

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  8. Deb@asimplelifequiltsOctober 21, 2012 at 8:08 PM

    Cute quilt and I love the glimpses of your sewing room too!

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  9. MCOctober 21, 2012 at 10:24 PM

    It looks like a great work space! I hope the new work table gets rid of all the frustrations. The dimensional geese are very cool, I think some subtle quilting in the white areas might bring them out even more.

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  10. Sharron KeckOctober 22, 2012 at 12:28 AM

    I agree with Danielle - I did the same thing with my acrylic table! I don't know what I would do with the geese - except keep the folded geese unquilted so they will show up. Maybe meander all around them, just not ON them.

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  11. AnonymousOctober 22, 2012 at 8:18 PM

    I quilted something similar last holiday season--it's basically a huge version of those geese which turn out to hold Christmas cards. I quilted the background, getting really darn close and even sneaking a tiny bit under the geese edges in order to give the illusion it was all uniformly quilted. If you do this, be careful not to stretch the top fabric. It might be difficult on a smaller scale but was doable on a larger scale.

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