Little Martha is Back!

Back in January, my little Bernina 180 (which was previously named "Little Martha" before it got replaced in favor of a bigger, beefier Bernina by the name of "Big Bertha" and passed down to me)had a terrible mishap while I was making what later became known as "The Ugliest Quilt in the World."  In the mean time, I bought another machine, which also suffered a terrible mishap while making napkins for Isabelle's wedding - I'm glad the napkins were well liked because a good machine gave its life to their cause, lol.

But just yesterday Little Martha took a trip with Jack Levin, sewing machine repair guy extraordinaire, to see if she was just a little broken, or completely totalled.  When I called to him and explained the problems Little Martha was having, he said that he'd have a look but it might be time to put the ol' girl out to pasture...and when he came and saw the main issue with the timing, all he could say was "Oh, ouch, ouch, ouch!" It's never good when those words come out of the mouth of a pro.  I let her go with low expectations, because seriously...the timing was royally, royally OFF. I expected to hear back from him today saying that Little Martha officially bit the dust.

This morning I got a message saying that my machine was...FIXED and happy as a clam.  But, after many years experience fixing all manner and quality of machines, never in his whole career (emphasis on "never," I am told) had he seen the timing in a Bernina knocked off a complete 180 degrees. Apparently, that just doesn't happen.  Welllllllll I guess there's a first for everything; as they always say, go big or go home!

But anyway, my borrowed machine can finally go back to its rightful owner, and I can stitch happily with my own machine...and in the mean time, look for a nice back up machine before something else catastrophic happens.  Someone knock on wood!

The Ugliest Quilt in the World

Several months ago, I made a quilt out of Tula Pink's Saltwater collection as a sample for the shop.  One of our more colorful characters informed us that is was "the ugliest quilt she has ever seen in her life."

Pictured: The Ugliest Quilt in the World

Frankly, I am pretty fond of the quilt..I mean...there are cephalopods (which I say just because I don't know what the actual correct plural form of Octopus is) on it.  But besides that, it really isn't an aesthetically offensive quilt, unless blues and turquoises aren't your thing.  But after that, I had an idea. What if I tried to make the ugliest quilt in the world?  How would one go about that, making an intentionally ugly quilt? That's kind of subjective, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that jazz, right? Challenge accepted. 

So it occurred to me...all those extra blocks from projects past, all those strips and segments from cutting said blocks, and all those practice blocks that just didn't work out were just sitting in a bag, all sad and lonely.  What if they all got mashed together?  I organized the pieces by colorway: brights, holiday and muted.  With all that, I had enough for three very ugly quilts.  So I set off on making a very bright and garish quilt.  I took my finished blocks and added pieces parts to then until the finished square measured 12.5" square. 

Let me just say, this is probably the most fun I have ever had making a quilt, EVER.  It felt so good to not have to fuss with color placement very much, or what looks good and what doesn't.  It gave me the freedom to just put things together that on an ordinary quilt, I never would have.  Plus, using leftover blocks, you learn real quick what color phases you've gone through over the years. (News Flash: I like orange and bright pink...shocking to no one.) 

And even though it was intended to be ugly and horrible...I really love how it turned out.  To everyone else, this may really be a loud, so-ugly-it-might-be-seizure-inducing quilt, but I am so happy with how it turned out. 

Say hello to the ugliest quilt in the world: 

A funny side note about the dino block...that was one of mom's leftover blocks from a project she made for me...when I was 3.  Just goes to show I have always had strange taste.  Dinos for life! 

Free Motion Quilting Cheats!

In the past few months, I have been doing a lot of my own free motion quilting, whereas I hadn't before. Unfortunately, the professional quilter I gave quilts to the most was out of commission for a little bit, and with my other preferred quilter having quite the backlog, I decided I should probably try and do my own work.  I mean, I'm using a machine that can do it, and I do have some free motion experience, so why not, right?  I figured the pieces would be nice and high on the wall at the shop where no one could see all the mistakes and the uneven stitches, etc...right?

My feathers turned into chunky, funky vines, whatever. 

Well, apparently I sold myself short. The response from people seeing my home-quilted quilts has been overwhelming!  People liked it, and were shocked I was doing this on a domestic machine. The truth is, I still don't think I'm all that great at it, but I do love the free motion quilt.  I can't handle much more than a small throw quilt without difficulty, and I still haven't mastered the even stitches bit even with a stitch regulator, but I love it.  I think it is my favorite part of the process!

No, my quilt isn't swearing, they're just asterisk snowflakes. 

But what I keep hearing from people looking at the few quilts I have up that I've quilted myself, is that they wouldn't have any idea on how to fill the space, and they wouldn't be brave enough to freehand the design. Well, yes, I'm not using a stencil or a computerized design, so technically, I am free handing the designs, but I'm most definitely not brave enough to completely freehand just yet! BUT...I do have a few cheats to share for those of us just starting out in free motion and for us not feeling confident enough just yet to 100% freehand.  Here we go! 

Free Motion Quilting Cheats

1. Pinterest really is a wonderful, wonderful thing.  If you're feeling stuck, pop on there and you can find a world of free motion designs to inspire you.  I have spent countless hours looking up designs because my arsenal is limited. Just search "free motion quilting" and you'll find yourself sucked right in. 

Exhibit A, found on Pinterest. 

2. Let your fabric and pattern work for you. Does your fabric have an interesting design, or does your pattern have its own funky natural lines?  Follow the leader and stitch around those patterns.  

3. I'll be honest...the Press and Seal trick did not work for me at all, not even one measly bit. It didn't slide underneath my quilting foot very well, and got bunched up even when I eased up the pressure on the foot. Also, when I tried to move the fabric around the design, the wrap didn't stay put and it moved with my hands. Oh, and that stuff is a pain int he ass to get out of your stitching...I ended up doing more damage to my stitches than I did to the Press and Seal, even trying to be delicate with tweezers! 

Please accept a picture of some Scottie puppies as a completely adorable substitute. 

4. If you can audition patterns, that is really, really helpful.  That's probably, in my opinion, what the Press and Seal is best for.  But, it is translucent and you don't get a good feel for how the pattern looks on your quilt.  My solution was overhead projector sheets.  Yeah, yeah, I know, how has those anymore? I've had these babies laying around since my junior year of high school...and only just found a good use for them. 

Sorry...I mean these....

But they're 100% clear and you can use Sharpie, a dry erase marker, or an overhead marker to trace out the design, or designs, you're toying around with. This will give you a much better idea of how your design will look on your quilt without ever having to take a stitch, and with zero marking on your quilt.

The pitfall is that you shouldn't really sew over these...they're quite stiff and getting the plastic out of your stitches would be at very best a nightmare. Once you get the idea of how it will look and what you want, it's time to be brave and dive in, or...

5. You can always you a washable fabric pencil, or water soluble marker to draw your design directly on the fabric. You can stitch right over it and wash it off when you're done...or, with all of that handling, it may wipe away on its own as you work.  This is best done in chunks because as you handle the quilt, especially if you opt to use a fabric pencil, it will wipe away...so it's best not to spend all your time drawing out the whole quilt only to have it fade away.

6. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Before you even sew a stitch on your quilt, make yourself a "test quilt" to make sure your tension is in order, and to make sure you know how to actually do the design you want.  When I make a "test quilt" all it is, is a 14" x 14" or so piece of scrap batting with scrap fabric on either side to act as the quilt top and back.  That way you are practicing on roughly the same materials as your quilt is made from.  Get you design down, your tension right and your courage up and you're ready to roll! 

Workie Work, Busy Bee

So...now that we've all had our fill of Halloween goodies...we're back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I've been busy at work on new samples, a few wedding quilts (no pictures because those folks read this blog), and an experiment in quilting weirdness.  But it was time to get in gear for Christmas, and let me tell ya, it felt really bizarre working on Christmas things while I was trying to enjoy my favorite spooky season.

Stonehenge Christmas table runner panel.  I wasn't really wild about the panel itself, but I was asked to do it as a sample.  The quilting made it a little more interesting, I think.

Little circles on the border.  They're not perfect, but half decent for a second attempt.