The post has to be short this morning. I looked at my schedule and well - there's no time to waste! Actually, I have a magazine submission that was due yesterday and I completely forgot about it last night. So I'm going to sneak it in this morning before they get to work!
I had a great day at our Monday sewing! I'm going to share what happened there tomorrow. It's all a learning experience and I've got so much to share with the UFO group this weekend. Oh, we're going to get those projects done if it kills us. I appreciate that some of you are not close enough to attend the UFO class, but that's why you can check out the Motivation Monday Facebook page. I've seen a LOT of finishes already this year. Or perhaps we need to do something online???? I'm so motivated - well - I can barely sleep.
I had time last night to quilt that quilt that I had loaded onto the long arm the night before. It's all about prep! I can't say that enough.
The quilt was a guild community projects quilt that I've had in the house for way longer than I would care to admit. It's been a long time. One of the reasons I stalled was because it's a hand applique quilt. I couldn't bear to quilt it with an overall pattern.
Then common sense kicked in and I quilted it with an overall pattern. I don't have time to custom quilt a community projects quilt.
Let's have a look.
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| Community projects quilt quilted with an overall pattern |
Hmm - does the overall pattern detract from the quilt? Not one bit and to think I carried the weight of that quilt on my shoulders for years!
Here's a close up of one of the blocks so you can get a better look.
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| Detail of one block |
Even up close, the overall pattern does NOT detract from the applique design. Oh - the other thing - does the thread stand out even though the quilt has very high contrast between the sashing and the blocks? Nope - can't see that thread at all.
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| Closer view of the quilting and thread color |
What are the lessons to be learned here? One of the first things we need to determine is how will the quilt be quilted. For the sake of ease - I'm going to be choosing between an overall pattern or custom - both done on the long arm since that is what I do.
Here are some questions to ask yourself.
1. Where will the quilt end up? Here are a few questions to ask yourself - there are factors to be considered for sure.
- Will the recipient appreciate custom quilting?
- Is the recipient worthy of a quilt or will the quilt get used as a dog bed?
- Will the recipient drag the quilt around the house and makes forts with it?
- Will the quilt be stored in a closet in a plastic bag?
Those are important questions - the quilt might be precious to us, but once we give it away - we no longer have any say in that quilt so be careful about how the quilt gets quilted. Heck - be careful about the style of quilt you choose for the recipient. Plain squares pieced together with an overall pattern work just fine for someone who won't appreciate a quilt or who will use it to death (which is what I want to happen with my gifted quilts).
2. Will custom quilting be visible on your quilt?
I once saw a quilt that was custom quilted by an experienced long arm quilter (not me). The customer was so excited that the quilt was custom quilted and I'm sure she spent a lot of money for the quilting. However the fabric and pattern were so busy on the front that you couldn't see any of the custom quilting. The back was equally busy except for a fat quarter size of fabric. A lot of money was wasted on that quilt.
3. Will custom quilting enhance (or be a distraction) the quilt?
Be careful with this - sometimes the custom quilting will actually take away from the quilt. When you look at the quilt and the first thing you see is the quilting - is that a successful quilt? It happens a LOT. That's OK if that was the intention or you did the quilting, but if someone else did the quilting - then people are appreciating the quilter's work, not the piecing (or the applique).
4. What is the quality of the workmanship in the quilt?
This is a bit of a delicate situation. I get it that we're all at different skill levels. But if the quilt top is stained, or lots of mismatched seams, or very wonky, then does it make sense to spend a lot of money to custom quilt something?
5. What about high contrast fabrics?
Some people think that if the fabrics are high contrast that the quilt needs to be custom quilted. Well - I think the example above is a pretty good indication that a quilt with high contrast fabrics does NOT need to be custom quilted. Those sashing fabrics are so busy in that applique quilt and I matched the thread to the background of the applique blocks, that the thread virtually disappears in the quilt. The applique blocks are still the main focus of that quilt, but there's texture in the background. And it's quilted.
6. Thread color is KEY
I can't say this enough, but thread color is so key to a successfully quilted quilt. It doesn't have to be an exact match. I was going to take a picture of the thread color that I used on that applique quilt but my camera battery died. It's a lighter blue than the actual fabric, but it blends in. IMportant note - it's in the same color (tone) family. I know that if some of my customers saw the color of thread that I used on their quilts, they would faint! Some of them have been funky, but they worked.
If there is high contrast in a pieced quilt, I go for a medium thread value that will show equally on the light fabrics and the dark fabrics. It's not always easy to find a color that works, but there's usually one in the bins that will work. I've never had to go out and buy a specific color just to do a quilt.
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This is my fourth community projects quilt this year. I have one more to do next week and then I'm going to give them a rest for a bit. There are still four community quilts that belong to guilds sitting in the lineup. I want to get them done as quickly as possible so they are out of the house. I have 16 of my own community projects quilts that need to be quilted and then there are tons of other community quilt tops that need to have a backing made but I wasn't in a hurry to do that until those 16 were done.
It's all about getting stuff that doesn't belong to me out of the house. This is the year that I'm going to make it happen. So far, I've made a good start. I will NOT take on any more of that kind of thing at least until all this is done! I will say NO. I have a vision in my head of having that "to be quilted" pile (not the tubs which contain my own quilts), but my vision is to have that area looking as clean as my kitchen did yesterday.
Remember that picture???
See everything is neat and tidy. That's what I want for that area. Only then will I consider taking on more community projects quilts. Included in that is pro bono stuff. I've got a few and I'm saying NO to anything new until the mess is cleaned up. So far, I'm making great progress this year. Even if I can get two quilts done a month - I'll be happy. If I did that, I might just have the entire mess cleared up by the end of the year and wouldn't that be awesome to move into 2020 with no pro bono stuff to do. Just say NO!!!!!
I hope these tips will help you when you're deciding how to quilt your next quilting project. I didn't get another quilt loaded last night, but I hope to load one (this time it's a customer quilt) and then I can quilt it tomorrow.
I've got SIX classes to teach and ONE class to take between now and Sunday evening. Let's just say that I'm in serious prep mode!
On that note - I'm out of here for the day.
Have a great day!
Ciao!
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