Quarantine Quilting Week 6: Plodding along and a machine cleaning tip
It seems like every whole cloth quilt hits a point where the quilting gets tedious. I am at that point on my table cloth whole cloth quilt. I chose to use a 12 wt thread to outline all of the motifs. That is a super beefy thread and I felt like it needed that thickness to highlight the design. Choosing a thick thread meant that I would have to bury all my thread ends. With a thinner thread I can just take 8 – 10 tiny stitches and snip my thread, that will hold. But you can’t do that with a thick thread. I will have buried 1.5 million thread ends by the time this is done:
Every one of those lines has a buried thread at its end. And that produces this:
That’s a lot of thread ends!
I also chose to micro stipple around the edge and in between the motifs to make them pop. Oh that is tedious too! I rarely stipple, almost never, but after trying several other micro fills including bubbles, this looked the best. I usually use a blending thread, not a high contrast thread. But the design needed that contrast to pop. So it feels like progress is slow.
I did mock up what it’s going to look like with the rick-rack edging:
Like that! I had a thought about the border:
I want the feel of this quilt to be casual, not formal. I did not want some fancy edge treatment yet I did not want a simple straight edge. I like the idea of a bunch of buttons around the border. I also auditioned Prairie Points as well as yo-yos but neither seemed a fit. I think the buttons will be lovely. I’m thinking I will use my button foot and sew them on by machine. That too will take awhile…
Between the additional weight of the linen table cloth and the buttons, this thing is going to be heavy!
I used the Aurifil brand for my 12 wt thread and it is a little linty. I chose the Aurifil over other brands because of that somewhat rough cuticle – it almost looks hand-stitched and I like that look. I knew that I would need to keep on top of the lint in my machine, doing that much quilting with a linty thread.
This is a really good example of why you need to keep your machine clean. I started out by sweeping out the lint in the bobbin case. You can use all kinds of things but my preferred weapon is a makeup brush. I got it all clean:
Looks good right? Nope, let’s go one step further by dropping the little door that holds the bobbin case holder in:
And we’re still not done, let’s got one step further:
There’s still lint behind the race. It took my skinny tweezers to get this out:
Bottom line, you need to remove the bobbin case as well as the hook race on front loaders and ideally you keep up with this as you go along. If you’re using a linty thread, be vigilant – it may save you frustration and a service call.
On other matters, I’m contacting all my guilds to reschedule:
It’s a sad and frustrating process. I will so miss being at guilds, meeting my students, helping them with the skills they need to have fun free motion quilting, feeling the synergy of the classroom. I may write a whole post on why I teach. We all need to be safe. But I crave a guild meeting, a quilt show, a classroom full of eager students, talking with other people. It will wait and this will pass. In the meantime I am still having a blast being able to create most of the day.
Surely there is hope and a future world where we can hug and gather.
I’ll link up as always with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday!
Are you using a side threading needle to bury the threads? (Not a self threading needle with the split on top) It only takes a split second to thread the needle & I leave the thread tails a bit longer so I can make the knot with the needle threaded, using a stiletto through the loop of the knot to be sure the knot tightens close to the fabric & then bury. Your work is beautiful.
I prefer the split top needles, faster and easier in my experience. I have really fat thread and the side sliding slots are not big enough. No matter what, it’s a pain! Thank you for commenting and reading Linda!
Have you tried a #12 crochet hook? It has to be a quality brand with a sharp point.
Hi Karen; I’ve tried similar things and found them to be fussy. The linen threads are thick and I think would catch on the hook instead of my thread.
Oh, Jenny, I am so excited to see the tablecloth quilt when finished. I have been following this and wasn’t sure in the beginning about those colors but it has REALLY grown on me.
This is going to be even more than you had hoped for.
Thank you Terry! NOw, can I just have a fast forward so that I can see it done? Lots of work to be done yet.
I can assure you that your guilds are just as disappointed as you are about the class cancellations! :-(. Your 12 weight outline quilting looks DELICIOUS, and thanks for raising that point about hand knotting and burying heavy weight thread tails. Even with 40 weight cotton quilting thread, not nearly as heavy as what you’re using, I did not like how obvious the tiny tie-off stitches were, but I did not consider starting and stopping at the usual stitch length and leaving thread tails to hand knot and bury. Probably didn’t occur to me because I’ve never made a show quilt, but really, that’s how EVERY line of stitching is started or stopped in hand quilting. So even if it’s slower than the speedy short stitch tie off, it’s going to be worth it for the gorgeous effect you’re getting with those carefully stitched outlines. This project is looking fantastic, and I love that it will be so utterly unique and one-of-a-kind.
I think guilds around the world are disappointed. Yes, the 12 wt thread has its own set of requirements, sigh. Thank you for the encouragement, I am lost in the details right now!
Lovely project! Thanks for the cleaning hint too.
Thank you Carol! Glad you enjoyed reading.
I love how this quilt is progressing. You are a brave woman to stipple with a high contrast!! Did you have any knotting of the 12 weight Aurifil on the back?
Ya know, I had to use a high contrast stipple, the quilt needed it. Oh Betty Jo, not using the 12 wt in the bobbin, it would be a mess, as you surmised. I have Quilter’s Select Para Cotton Plus which behaves beautifully in the bobbin.
You’re going to have a very beautiful table cloth!! Great job on quilting!! Thanks for the tip on machine cleaning.
You’re welcome Margo! I am having fun with this piece. It would have taken forever during my normal teaching schedule.
Love the micro stipple in contract colour. This will be fab when finished. Audio books can be your friend.
You’re right, I haven’t done an audio book in a long time. Thank you for the comments!
Love what you are doing with your tablecloth.
Thank you Donna!