Invisafil on Bernina Q20

Today I thought it might be useful to people to share how I use Invisafil from Wonderfil Threads. I have been using this thread for a while, initially only using it for stitch-in-the-ditch but lately also for freemotionquilting. Invisafil is a silk like 100wt, 2-ply cottonized polyester thread. Obviously very fine, I have been using it in preference to invisible Monofilament thread as it blends in like a dream.

This is my settting on the Bernina Q20

The tension is set on 2.0 and I am stitching in the ditch with the BSR2 stitch regulator. Needle-wise, I am using a Schmetz 70/11 Microtex needle to give me the finest stitch quality possible. The tension varies between 2.0 and 1.75 depending on what colour thread I am using. For the bobbin thread I am using a prewound 80wt Decobob thread.

For the tablerunner I am currently finishing, I am using both antique white and tan coloured Invisafil thread. While I have got a small selection of different colours of the thread I do not have a red thread to use, but you will see how well Invisafil can blend in even if it is a completely different colour.

Here are the colours

tan Invisafil thread

Antique white Invisafil

In the background you can see that I need to outline the blocks in white however also need to stitch down between the outer border and the inner red sashing. Red would have been good but I am going to use tan as an alternative.

Stitching-in-the-ditch around the blocks

The white Invisafil thread just sinks into the fabric.

Stitching on the red fabric with tan coloured Invisafil

This is what this looks like and where Invisafil shines. It has this weird ability to become almost invisible taking on parts of the surrounding colour. Obviously if you stitch over the seam you will see the tan thread, however if you go carefully it just sinks in...brilliant!

 

I then used the off white Invisafil to stitch around my snowmen

Following this I changed over thread and used a red 50/2 Aurifil thread to put a channel into the sashing. I left the prewound white Decobob as the bobbin thread to see how that would go. As usual ( never think much about what colour the backing is until I have to do the quilting) I had a backing that needed a white bobbin thread rather than a red. Normally I would match the Aurifil thread in the bobbin, but I thought it might be beneficial to have a finer thread in the bobbin in the hope that it would be completely pulled up into the wadding avoiding those pesky pokies that you sometimes get with different threads in bobbin and top.

Here is my top red thread...nicely embedded with no white pokies coming through.

...and here is the back

Must say, I was impressed...this was even better than I had expected, absolutely no red showing through. Very happy with that!

If you never tried Invisafil thread, I can really recommend that you give it a try...it is the most versatile thread I have come across. It's weird ability to just blend in is just outstanding and I think, unmatched by other threads. 

Linking Up to Midweek Makers @QuiltFabrication

Karin

Freemotion-Quilting Again

Ahhh...after what felt like weeks on end, I finished my three quilt tops and am finally able to get back to what I love most... freemotion-quilting.

Made a start on my Natalia Bonner 'A Year Of Stars' quilt for the quiltalong that has commenced in January.  As I am not on a frame longarm, I have to secure my quilt with stitching in the ditch before I can start all of the ruler work. I did order some Monoploy thread on a cone which arrived recently and started with testing my tension.

I have a few blocks that ended up in the 'not so perfect bin' and I am using these for testing. On the Q20 I used a Universal 70/10 needle and Bottomline in the bobbin. I deliberately am using a different bobbin thread - normally I use Aurifil but I am a bit more in experimental mode with this machine and I have a few spools of Bottomline thread that need to be used. Had no issues really. The tension came in at 1.25 which was comparable to what I have read about on other owners' blogs. The testing did not take long and I was ready to tackle the stitching in the ditch.

I am using my trusted Handiquilter Ditch Ruler for this task. Must say that that ruler is one of the rulers I probably use most of all. It is just a good size for my hands and it has those handy notches that you can align on your seam. In the photo I am quilting on the right of the foot, but I often change over and also quilt with the ruler on the left side. Have not figured out which side is more comfortable for me. I think it depends how much bulk I am dealing with at the time, where the pins are and what the seam feels like.

How good does this look with invisible thread

I am using stitch regulation, so it is looking nice and even (except for those times when I wobble). Bit undecided whether to stitch in the ditch around the elements of the blocks with the invisible thread or to leave that until I go into the block for the ruler work design. I will do the ruler work with Aurifil 50/2 thread, probably in a light off white colour which would stand out a fair bit if I do the ditching in the block with that as well. On the other hand, I am unsure how much back tracking is involved in the ruler work, so I will have lines that will stand out more anyway. Will ponder on this as I go along. 

This was almost therapeutic! Tomorrow, no doubt, I will be whinging about the stitching in the ditch as I will get impatient to start the ruler work. Watched the first of Natalia's videos on YouTube and can't wait.

Linking up to Midweek Makers over at Quilt Fabrication.

Karin