Wednesday, September 2, 2009

String Quilt Quilting




It's not like I don't have anything else to do. but I wanted to DO something for myself. Or maybe for someone else??? We'll see about the someone else...

This is a string quilt that I have had hanging in a closet for years. It's sort of bright. Orange & Turqoise (sp?), some brown & some red. It's foundation pieced onto muslin. About 73 X 83.

The pantograph that I am using is a new one for the month, for me. It's from Urban Elementz and it's called "Poppies". It's rather tight! As you can see. I normally never suggest using a busy/tight pantograph on a quilt that is busy. Busy meaning - lots of pieces or lots of color. The quilting is just simply lost - and unless (IMHO) you're getting heirloom style quilting - you really only need the quilting as a backdrop - not the front & center of the quilt design.

Tight panto's have a higher price per square inch - they take longer to quilt - you have to go slower & I increase my # of stitches per inch so that the points are more visible. More sittiches means more thread.

Speaking of thread - I had this ORANGE (or maybe it's a Burnt ORANGE)thread in my thread drawer & I have never had the opportunity to use it. I had a Turqoise that matched perfectly - but I have had customers like that one...so I decided to use a thread color that didn't move so well. Ha, ha, ha - on the body of this quilt - you can't even see the pattern of the "Poppies" - it just looks like all orange thread. Good thinkg is that I am using unbleached muslin for the backing & the ORANGE thread really REALLY shows up great!

I prefer busy "backs". I like printed backing, pieced printed, backings - anything that looks different from the front. I prefer them PERSONALLY for myself. And I really liek them when my customers use them. When the backs are just plain - I have to pay special attention EXTRA SPECIAL attention to my spacing between rows.

Anyway - this is probably a giveaway. Not sure who - maybe part of a PIF??? (pay-it-forward) We'll see.

I got no clue what I'll bind it in. I don't have any of that orange star print that is on the outer border - nor do I have any of the turqoise...so I'll likely bind it in muslin. Or if I can find some plain orange...we'll see.

Bright ehough???

Sam

2 comments:

Kat said...

ooohhh.....I didn't remember that one.. I like it! You should quilt all of those you have hanging around!!

Barb said...

I love your string quilt but most of all I love watching your long arm machine and the pattern you are using...