Progress on Baby Quilt

Still doing my baby quilt...this is taking forever! Did not expect this at all as it seemed so simple...a few arcs and a few lines!
Quilting with an unfamiliar thread...Fantastico from Superior thread (40/3wt). For the bobbin thread I am using white Bottomline thread (60wt). Had to do a bit of fiddling as the top tension kept being too low...something was just not going right. In the end, I cranked up the bobbin tension to a point where one would think it was too tight. This seemed to be working for me, so I decided that this must be right.

Finished the all the arcs and lines...in some spots the tension is a bit sus, but I am going to leave that as I am running out of time and energy for this quilt. I used one of my Pro Echo rulers for the arcs and the straight skinny Handiquilter ruler for the lines. As I am a bit lazy I also did all this in a continuous fashion travelling along the ditch which initially was a bit of a challenge but then I got the hang of it.

See how crinkly this has become...I will now do a Ribbon Candy design in the sashings to quilt all this down. This should go quickly as that is just done freehand. And then it is done! Binding is ready to go, so hopefully this will be done by the end of next week.

Karin

Quiltshopgal's Virtual Fall Craft Fair

Welcome!

I am so pleased to be participating in the Virtual Fall Craft Fair that Quiltshopgal is hosting this week. Check out Quiltshopgal's blog to see the list of crafters who are participating throughout the week. The event is sponsored by a number of businesses and there is a chance to win daily door prizes for visiting the participating vendors.

                                                             
A little bit about my journey...I have been quilting since about 2006 and quickly became addicted. As the years passed my second obsession - freemotionquilting took hold and to this day that is what I do 80% of my time. At the same time I did need to produce quilts and so I started to make mainly smaller and baby quilts in order to be able to get back to my freemotionquilting. At the same time I ventured out into pattern writing, around 2010, mainly for publication in the magazines over here. However, in 2013 I set up shop to sell my patterns and that has been quite successful so far.

I love the brain drain of pattern writing. I do not use pattern testers but make the quilts myself to be clear on where people might experience some issues and might need further explanations. So far, this has worked very well. Anyway, coming back to my little virtual booth...

I only recently decided to sell some of my handmade quilts and have added them to my evolving Etsy shop (I swapped to Etsy in late 2018). I have been making baby quilts for some time by now and usually gift them to whoever needs them, but as time has gone by, I actually need to make some room. There is only so many quilts that one can hang on to.

At the moment I have two very sweet quilts for sale

Sweet Baby Boy Quilt

The quilt measures 36.5in x 36.5in and could also be used as a play mat or security blanket. It is made from 100% cotton fabric, quilted in an overall clamshell design and has a light, soft feel to it.

Funky Bird Quilt

This brightly coloured patchwork/applique quilt is 40in x 49.5in. Having robust use and frequent washing in mind, this quilt is heavily quilted - I want my quilts to be pretty but also usable. All fabrics are pre-washed, however I would always recommend a colour catcher in the first wash just to be on the safe side. While firmer in touch due to the quilting, this quilt will soften with use. If you are interested in the process you can read some posts about this quilt under my blog archive from May to June 2019.

Postage for both quilts is free in Australia and indicated in the shop for  the US. Please contact me via email if you would like to find out postage to other destinations.
I will insure the quilts for posting at no additional cost to the customer.

Please also check out my patterns which will be on sale at 10% off for the duration of the Virtual Fall Craft Fair.

If you are unsure about what to expect when buying a pattern, please feel free to download my free baby quilt pattern under the tab 'My Patterns' at the top of the page. This will give you an idea on how I structure my patterns and the diagrams that I include.

Enjoy the event and come back often. I am planning to re-make some of the quilts from my patterns to offer for sale in the beginning of the next year to mid-year.

Thanks for visiting!

Karin

Virtual Fall Craft Fair

Have you heard?

Quiltshopgal is running a virtual Fall Craft Fair showcasing various vendors selling their handmade craft items.

The event runs for the whole week and is starting today with the first five vendors. I am very excited because I am a participant ...will showcase my stuff on Wednesday!

The event is sponsored by a number of businesses and there is also a chance to win daily door prizes.

I had a quick look earlier and will sit down in a minute to have a good look over the first day...there is lots to see and some lovely items on offer...very tempting indeed.

Thanks  Quiltshopgal for again bringing us a great event.

Karin

New Baby Quilt

Having some trouble with the baby quilt I am currently doing.

I am using an unfamiliar thread (to me): Superior Fantastico 40/3wt  (with Bottomline 60 wt in the bobbin) and  ever so slightly variegated. Cannot seem to get the tension quite right (always almost there but never quite right). When I set the bobbin correctly the top tension is too loose. When I tighten it then I have flat lining on top...and so it goes.

This is what I am doing and I reckon I will have to un-stitch a few rows because of the flat lining on the top. Not sure I can handle this

In parts the stitches look alright, possibly due to how I am holding the ruler, but the more I kept looking at this I thought this is just not right.

So today I spent some quality time with the machine...did not get angry with the machine rather went calmly through different scenarios, i.e loosening the bobbin tension (going by what is suggested in a chart on the Superior website). Now that just did not work for me at all...definite flat lining happening! Then played around with the threading of the machine and decided that I will use only 2 holes...yep, that did not work either really. Some improvement but still not quite right.

I think I knew all along that the bobbin needed changing for this thread. I believe that this is a fairly strong thread used for high speed quilting. Thinking about it I thought that it made sense then to tighten the bobbin tension beyond the 'normal' spot to put some muscle into the bottom thread. Cranked up the bobbin tension to a point where it does not slide down anymore and you normally would say that it is too tight. That seems to be working better, so I am cautiously optimistic...

Did a lot more playing around with the thread on different settings and speed. Also changed neeedles in between and cranked it up to 50%...my stitches looked heaps better at the higher speed. However, for the rulerwork I will need to go much, much slower  and obviously tighten things up.

Don't really feel like undoing my stitching, but I know it will annoy me. Might start with undoing the last row and then continue on the areas that have not been quilted yet, then re-evaluate...

Karin