Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Machine Quilting

I started machine quilting the Thread Head Quilt Along quilt.

I started by quilting with the walking-foot through all the black squares, using black Aurifil thread.

Then on to free motion quilting the blocks with a gold coloured Aurifil thread. I am using a #80 Microtex needle. So far I have quilted 5 blocks (I mean the blocks created by the diamonds of the alternating blocks), so 35 blocks left to quilt. I plan on taking my time - the large quilt is a bit of a brute to wrestle with!

I am using wool batting - notice all the different measurements on the label -

3½"

3"

4"!!??


I had quite a lot of interest in the GO!

When I cut out the shapes I rotary cut strips the right size before cutting out the shapes. For the apple core I need strips 5+3/4" wide (on the lengthwise grain). This red fabric is folded to 7½"sections (6 layers thick) - these measurements are smaller than on the die package.

I press down on the fabric to make sure it covers the die blades - you can feel where the blades are and I don't think there is any danger of cutting yourself.

After cutting there is very little waste - there is always a certain amount of waste with unusual shaped blocks.

I cut out all the apple core blocks with the fabric I had. Except for the red, I had ½ meter lengths of fabric (about 21" - 22"), and I was able to cut 21 apple cores from each fabric - 3 apple cores in each length and 7 across the width. The package says that you can cut 24 apple cores from 1 yard of fabric, but I think you could cut 35.

I added a couple of rows of apple cores. I have no idea how big this quilt will be, but it sure is nice to sew. This is definitely a shape I would never have tried without the GO!.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!
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