Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Adventures in machine quilting...




No stippling for this girlie. No straight lines. No patterns to trace.
and you can tell. LOL

I'm doing circles - dense concentric ones and loose lazy ones. And then inbetween - filler doodling.

It's my doodling quilt. And there's uneven stitches and circles that are kind of wobbly, but it's fun and kind of therapeutic.

I'm not a perfectionist - I really enjoy process and the journey of learning something.

Here's what I've learned so far - when you are quilting a large pattern, don't worry about where you are, worry about where you are going in about 6 inches from now, that will give you smooth lines. Kind of a life lesson too - don't worry about what you're doing now...but where you are going.... deep huh?

Have a great day!
Juki and I are mending our friendship...so far I've been giving alot more than she has, but so far things are improving. ;-)

12 comments:

  1. That looks so cool! I'm such a chicken when it comes to machine quilting. I'm always so afraid to totally mess up. Must be freeing to just make all those swirly circles!

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  2. I'm with BaileyGirl5: total chicken when it comes to machine quilting. I really need to get over it and try it sometime.

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  3. it looks great so far.
    I'd love to see a follow up to this post with some details.

    How big are your circles at their widest?
    Do you spiral in or out? (or both?) and then what? (Cut the thread?)
    Are you letting the threads cross anywhere?

    Thanks so much. I'm a new subscriber to your blog, and I'm sure I'll have fun exploring the archives.

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  4. Watching where you are going, instead of where you are, MAKES GREAT SENSE! A few years back, a friend and I took a motorcycle riding class. We learned, that when you are going into a corner, look at, or past the corner, not what is in front of you. We learned, if you look down, you GO down...so true! (One of my first solo rides after I got my license, was very scary, because I forgot that on a sharp corner, and I almost lost it!) I applied the same theory to my vehicle driving. I don't practice 'the big picture', like we are supposed to, but I found out that, on corners, if I looked at the corner, from way back, going into it was MUCH smoother, and flawless...so quilting in the same way, makes sense!

    I'm glad you are making friends with Suki. Have fun. The quilt looks GREAT. When you are making circles though, don't 'WHIP' around a corner, or you will get BIG stitches. I've 'been there' and 'done that'.
    be blessed!
    Michelle

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  5. I was going to mention motorcycling too! It is a good analogy for life in general. :-)

    And I love the quilting, and love that you're just playing with it. Can't wait to see the final product!

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  6. Love this! And yes, a very accurate lesson in life and quilting.

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  7. love this and it gave me inspiration on some borders i need to quilt!

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  8. Your quilt looks fabulous and fun and your Life Lesson fits in beautifully. I just did some circles with the walking foot on a tote bag I made - I loved the effect but it's *hard* with the walking foot! I must get that darning foot on and start driving with it!

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  9. i love your soft colors in this quilt...and the circle quilting is so soft as well. very nice. i like your laid back approach...encourages me to try my own quilting!

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  10. LOVE the quilting! I am a BIG fan of circles/swirls and I also love it when the quilting is "impromtu". It kind of makes it your own. Great job!

    And thanks for the lesson. Sometimes we all need a reminder of that!

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  11. I love the circle swirls and the random pattern in your second photo. good advice too!

    nothing ventured- nothing gained. quilting is all about stretching our abilities and imaginations.

    love it!

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  12. i'm not a perfectionist either and isn't it so liberating?! your quilting is awesome - keep up the good work.

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