Sunday, March 27, 2011

(Mis)Adventures in Free Motion Quilting

Remember how I promised, I would talk about my failures?  This is one of those stories.


I got inspired by Mug Rug Madness, linked by another blog, to try my hand at a mug rug.  I've been wanting to try free motion quilting, so I could expand beyond in-the-ditch and grids as quilting options.  I also have a bunch of 2" strips left over from a log cabin that I've been itching to use.  They are a star patterned, and I found a tutorial for an awesome star free-motion quilting stitch.  So I grabbed a handful...

...made an itty bitty top...


...sandwiched, basted...


...rethreaded my machine and dropped my feed dogs...


...and made friends again with my seam ripper.  :-(


I was using slightly heavier thread than usual (in an awesome deep purple!), which may have contributed to the issues.  I also don't have the proper foot to use, but I'm not sure about investing in one without knowing that I will use it.  (Though I know I do want to invest in a walking foot, and soon.)  Now the question is to try it again with my usual thread, or to try some straight lines or wavy lines with the purple thread to get used to it, or something else.  For now it's set aside while I whipped out a dishmat (success!) and two more quilt-along star blocks (successes!) that I will write about in just a bit.

1 comment:

  1. I have the same problems, I gave up on free motion a long while ago. However, I did have another go at it this week with the mug rug madness that's going around. I thought I couldn't go far wrong with such a small item. But to be honest, I absolutely hated the end result. The stitching doesn't look too bad up close, but I just hate the fact that I've gone over my beautiful fabric with this free motion design. I think I'm much safer to stay in the ditch ~ at least that way I won't ruin my wonderful fabric prints x

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