With the skinny inner blue border, where I'm quilting a 1/2" string of pearls design, I had previously been marking the circles with a stencil and then trying to stitch my circles freehand, following the marked line. Last night, I decided to try the Quilter's Groove ProPebbles template in the border that I'd been using for my "lollipop flowers" on the blue HSTs all along. And OH, MY GOODNESS, what a difference!! Here is my best effort at quilting half inch circles freehand, following perfect circles marked on the quilt surface with a stencil:
...And here is what my circles looked like when I skipped the step of marking them with the stencil and just quilted them with my Quilter's Groove ProPebbles template, scooting the template along the border as I quilted one cute little circle after another:
Can you believe these circles were quilted by the same quilter, on the same day?! And it was so much FASTER, too! Oh my gosh. I'm never going to make these any other way. And next time I quilt a string of pearls, I'm going to use thread that makes sure EVERYONE can see it!
I LOVE THIS LITTLE GADGET! So of course I had to order the other sizes... I'm becoming quite the ruler junky.
I know it's only Monday, but I'm thinking ahead for my To-Do List on Tuesday. It would be awesome if I could get ALL of the background fill quilting completed on this quilt in the next 7 days, but having never done this type of quilting on an actual quilt before, I don't really know how long it will take me. Also, I haven't pieced anything in forever, and I think it's time to show my domestic sewing machine a little love! With that in mind, here are my goals for this week:
- Experiment with different background threads, pick one, and rethread my machine
- Spend at least 30 minutes quilting background fills every day
- Figure out the code for my Long Arm Learning linky party button
- Cut and piece the next block for Anders' Beware the Ishmaelites sampler quilt
- Make binding for Spirit Song and set aside
I'm linking up today's post with:
MONDAY
· Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
· Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
· BOMs Away Katie Mae Quilts
TUESDAY
· Colour and Inspiration Tuesday at Clever Chameleon
· To-Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us
10 comments:
I think I need that ruler in my life!
Your quilting is spectacular.
Helen
Wonderful! And glad you were able to master a new technique as well.
Oh my the ruler does make a difference. No wonder they are so popular. Hope you accomplish what you want!
Awesome ruler! How does it fit over your APQS foot? I liked the teacher's teaching video comment on that ruler--Ruler work is meant to be precise, not fast. !!!
That string of pearls looks perfect! Look at all you are learning. The bonus is the increase in speed. You are getting so much out of this quilt the learning experience is one aspect but the skill development will take you far. You should consider entering this in a competition for first time competitors. I think you have the chops to score highly. You would also get some feedback from a skilled group on improvement. I’m just trying to plant ideas for you to ponder. I think that you could have a future in competition if that is something that speaks to you as a satisfying activity, even as an amateur.
We are shutting down again. It is a continuation of SIP. I think this is week 18. Our county had 3 days of outdoor dining and hair cuts. I was unable to get either done. My haircut was scheduled for later in the week. Oh, well, I can look at longer hairstyles to grow into.
I use the nested circles from Quilter's Rule. So happy for you that you found something that makes circles easier for you! I think I felt you doing the happy dance as you rolled the quilt up to the top for the last time;)
Beside making a gorgeous quilt, you've accomplished your other objective of improving your long arm quilting and learning new techniques. I'd say a job well done.
Pat
Hi again, Rebecca! If you need help with the code for your linky party, just say the word. I'll be glad to help you. Those string of pearls, a.k.a. the lovely circles are just perfect! WOW! I thought your circles were nice before but DANG. I'm looking forward to seeing the background stitching all finished - can you get it done this week? Thanks again for linking up this week. ~smile~ Roseanne
I'm not a long-arm quilter, but I always enjoy seeing what you're working on! And it's fun to see fabrics in your quilt that I have in my own stash, too - the yellow with orange dots in the 3rd photo down. Looks great paired with the pink and orange floral!
The quilt is getting close to being done!!! How awesome it is.
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