Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Confessing My Mistakes

Somewhere in the neighborhood of  10 years ago, Jackie Muehlstein told me I should get a Juki TL98Q extended bed sewing machine to quilt my creations.  Up to that point, all I ever made was wallhangings.  Well, I took her advice; and I have been quilting up a storm ever since.  I also should mention that Jackie has long been my quilting idol.  She is one of the best!  This quilt was one of the first ones I quilted on the Juki.  It is designed by Piece 'O Cake and called Everyday Best after the designer's grandmother's china.  I made two crucial errors on  this quilt.  I did the applique with fusible web.  It's stiff and will allow the edges to fray a little when washed.  This was before I knew how to do the interfacing  turned applique edge method that I use today.  Another mistake was to use heavy thread to quilt.  It created what I call a "thready" quilt.  This thread was a 3 ply 50 weight of inferior quality to today's threads.  I never let this thick thread near my Juki these days.  I also refuse to do quilting that is so extensive it overshadows the fabrics.  Just enough is enough.  Actually, this quilt also has one wavy edge.  I have learned a tremendous amount since I made this one.  I will say, I was pretty fearless in my beginning days!

All that said, this is still a stunning quilt.  The colors are fantastic.  Designs I really love, I will  make a second time.  I have the foundations ready to make another one minus the mistakes.  Of course, that will be after I complete a pile of works in progress.

1 comment:

  1. You should take a picture of all of your "works in progress!"

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