Monday, January 31, 2011

Slow Process

As I planned, I've spent most of the weekend quilting. And, as usual, it's a much slower process than I first anticipated. It's Sunday night and I would guess that after spending many hours over the course of two days, the quilting is about half done.


If you do your own quilting, perhaps you'll agree that each quilt demands its own unique quilting. Some quilts lend themselves to an overall design while some do not. The one I'm working on does not. You can probably see what I mean in the photo above where the different parts of the quilt are quilted differently--I think this type of quilting really showcases the design of the quilt.

I suspect some of you are probably wondering, so I'll answer a couple questions before you even have a chance to ask. For quilting, I use a Juki sewing machine, which has a bigger throat area than most domestic machines. I also plan, when quilting a large quilt such as this king size one, to use free motion quilting, so I don't have to manipulate and turn the quilt as much as I would if I was using a walking foot. Although the quilt fits well enough in the machine, the size alone makes it heavy, so the less I have to haul it around, the better. I start in the middle of the quilt and work my way to the edges, so it gets a little easier as I go.

Even so, after sewing all weekend, my neck and shoulders are screaming at me. I think it's time to soak for a bit in a nice, hot bath to relax my sore muscles. At least someone got caught up on his rest and relaxation over the weekend.

13 comments:

Betsy said...

Kim the quilting on that quilt is exquisite. I so love your fabric choices too.

Unknown said...

WOW is all I can say about that quilting.
Then this looks like my Penny, So sweet.

Melissa said...

Kim, it looks beautiful!

ritad said...

Kim,
Love this new beauty! Great quilt and great quilting.

Jocelyn said...

Wow your quilting looks great. And the quilt is beautiful!

Brandie said...

I love the quilting! I agree with you, some quilts call for their own designs. Do some neck rolls and shoulder rolls before getting back to quilting. Good luck

Anita said...

I totally agree with you. I usually quilt my own quilts and the big ones are not easy. I got very lucky about a year ago. A good friend of mine talked her husband into buying her a long-arm machine. She has quilted one quilt for me and has one her machine now. I feel very fortunate to have a friend with a long-arm other wise I'd be quilting these myself. Hope your feeling better soon!

Anita said...

My word, that is lovely!

Jessica White said...

Beautiful quilt! I love those blocks: What pattern did you use for them?

Shelley said...

i love the cat and the quilt it's on!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic quilting! But the cat photo gets me every time!!

Greenmare said...

oh my gosh that is just gorgeous!!!! cats. they sure do know how to relax don't they? no worries at all. sigh! and the quilt puss is laying on is lovely too. actually everything you do is lovely!

Bonnie said...

Wow! That's beautiful and it looks like you do it without any markings on the fabric. I'm impressed especially since I just took a beginning machine quilting class.