I am so pleased with the Low Volume Tiles quilt now that it's all finished! Once I got all those blocks joined the rest of the top went together quite quickly. However, I had some challenges
quilting it. I felt it was the perfect candidate for quilting an all-over design on my frame. I took inspiration from Elizabeth Hartman and did a back and forth wavy design with rounded edges to off-set all those rectangles. With my small 5" quilting area on my 1600P it was an easy design to fit in the space.
I got the quilt loaded and started off really well using So Fine and Bottom Line threads in a nice grey to blend with the fabric. The first few passes with the machine went smoothly but then my thread kept breaking and I had patches of furry fringe on the under side. I got so frustrated trying to fix everything and pretty much resolved to give up (same experience I had with that baby quilt) and just drag the machine to the dealer. Once I'd calmed down in the morning I decided to have one more go before taking the quilt off the frame. I'm not exactly sure what I changed but I managed to get the rest of the quilt quilted without incident!
The wonderful Angela Walters kindly advised me to just go back and stitch over the loose stitches which had resulted in some areas where my thread broke. That was a relief to know I didn't have to pick them out! Obviously had this been a special quilt for a gift or donation the problem areas would have to be corrected but since it was just for me, I could tack down the loose areas with extra stitching and to be honest, I can barely find them now.
Once the quilt was washed I got a very nice texture and it's now one of my favourite quilts. Even hubby liked this one a lot - it is the most modern and masculine one I've made. I am definitely going to whip up another of Ms. Hartman's designs from the Inspired Modern Quilts Craftsy class.
Turned out Great!!!
Posted by: Angela Walters | June 07, 2013 at 04:40 PM
I really like this! It's amazing how such neutral colors can make such a pretty quilt. And as always, I'm jealous of your fmq-ing. You are such an expert. :)
Posted by: Bec | June 14, 2013 at 10:55 PM