Question machine quilting w/ walking foot

I finally have my weaver fever quilt top done!!!! Last pic in my "more Quilts" folder. Planning to sandwich and pin baste Saturday and start on the machine quilting Sunday and Monday.

I plan on using my walking foot and doing grid lines, following the weaves. Matching thread depending on what colour I'm sewing on.

Here's what I'm not sure of. If I follow through with the same colour of thread..... no matter what colour I use.......it will show when I cross the non-matching quilt colour.

I was thinking.......supposing I'm doing the dark blue (thread and on the weave)....can I stop when I come to the end of that weave.......backstitch a couple stitches, lift foot and move along, pulling thread without breaking off.......to the start of the next dark blue weave, backstitch to hold, sew to the end of that weave, backstitch.....etc to the border of the quilt?? Am I clear as mud?

Will I be trying to do something that will end up causing more troubles? Any other suggestions most welcome

Ann

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Reply to
Ann
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Personally, I would use a variegated thread that includes some or most of the colors in your quilt, then you wouldn't have to keep changing threads. Of course, I love variegated thread! Or, I would use one of the colors and just use it for the entire quilt.

Reply to
Donna in Idaho

I don't have any varigated thread and no chance of getting out of town to get some. This weekend is a long weekend and a sewing weekend........gotta get this quilt done.

My concern is, say I use the dark blue. when I cross over the light red (pink), won't it look really obvious?

Reply to
Ann

Howdy!

Some people quilt so that their stitches DO show up on the quilt.

Go for it, Ann. Ignore the background colors and just quilt it! ;-D

Ragmop/Sandy

Reply to
Sandy Ellison

Yes, you can, Ann. You can do exactly what you propose as to stop when you come to a cross-over, back up to secure, raise the foot (to release the thread tension) and move across. I've watched Martha Pullen on Sew Beautiful do that many times on her baby quilting. Try it just a little and see if that's the effect you're wanting. You'll have a ratty mess of thread and will need to stop and trim frequently, but yes, yes, you can. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

As Polly said, you can do this, I have just one recommendation. When you lift your presser foot and move the quilt to the next section you want to quilt, be sure your needle is in the highesst position possible. Also, reach in and manually pull the top thread a bit to make it just a tad longer. When you go to put the needle back down in the quilt, the extra slack in the top thread will be taken up. If you don't do this, the top thread will tighten just a bit more than the bottom thread and it's a total P.I.T.A. All of that being said, I also agree with Sandy. I would choose a colour thread that coordinates nicely with the whole quilt and just use that for ALL of the quilting. You'd be surprised how lovely it will look. And don't worry about any little mistakes or wonky sections. YOU are likely the only person who will know about them!! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

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Reply to
Tia Mary

Ann:

Not an answer for your question, but I wanted to let you know that after seeing the pictures of your weaver fever quilt I bought the pattern myself, so I'll be very interested to hear how you end up doing the quilting. Thanks for the inspiration!

Trixie

Reply to
Trixie

Lovely top, Ann! Definitely a success! :) As for the quilting, you can certainly do what you propose. However, like several others here, I'd pick one color and go with that. So what if it shows? ;) I think a nice navy would do well....

Reply to
Sandy Foster

I would definitely do as you say, interrupt when you come to the intersecting weave, to maintain the illusion. You could use the same blue on all the blue bits and the same rose on all the red/pink bits. Do all of one color and trim the threads before you start the other color. Baste lots! This is a case where the invisible micro-nylon thread would work well. Roberta in D

"Sandy Foster" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@news.west.earthlink.net...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

So why is this a problem?

Reply to
Kathy Applebaum

If you're stitching in the ditch it really shouldn't show.

I, however am of the belief that quilting pairs with piecing to enhance the whole. Therefore, I LIKE the thread to show. It's another component in the design.

Pull out your threads. Unwind a 3 foot piece or so and lay it across the top. Do this until you find a color that looks nice with all the colors on your quilt. Sometimes I am surprised and a tan or grey is the best. It's all in the value. It will save you miles of grief in quilting your quilt if you can find one that you like. Changing at every intersection will drive you batty...there are so many intersections on your quilt.

Also, if you do decide to go with all the stopping and starting; it will take more than a couple of backstitches to secure all those ends. Take the stitch length to almost zero and do 4-6 itty bitty stitches to secure the ends. Or....leave really long tails, pull the bobbin thread up, knot them together, thread both onto a needle and weave them in. Ok, that will make you too batty because I see about 400 stops and starts :-)

Personally, I'd pick a color I like with all the fabrics and so something all over instead of in the ditch. That is a TON of pivots to do with a walking foot across that whole quilt and back again and in the other direction.....

marcella

Reply to
Marcella Peek

Thanks Polly. So glad You have seen this done and that it worked out that way :)

Reply to
Ann

Thanks for the tip on pulling up the top thread a bit. Wouldn't have thought about that.

Reply to
Ann

Good for you Trixie. It's really not a hard pattern, just a matter of keeping everything in order.....which is left/right and top/bottom. During construction everything was labeled which Row it was until the block was made. Ask me how important this is!!!!

Reply to
Ann

I thought of the invisble thread too but if the quilt ever gets ironed won't it melt? This quilt is a donation to a silent auction so no telling who will be the owner. If that person happened to iron it (heaven forbid) it would be ruined. So I'm not taking a chance.

Reply to
Ann

If only life had these kind of problems :) I've thought about machine quilting this for weeks...this way.......that way.......and this is the looking that I keep coming back too. It screams at me to do it this way. Better listen to the screams LOL

Reply to
Ann

Thanks for the tip on the itty bitty stitches. I'd definately be batty weaving the tails in

No pivots, just straight stitching at the edges, just catching the inside corners of each weave

Reply to
Ann

I hear you!

But...

While I'm all for listening to the fabric, er, voices, er, well, you know, I fear the screams will be coming from you after the first dozen starts and stops. :) I get a lot of piecers who want the thread to match the fabric at every spot. Fortunately, they see the light when I tell them how much that will cost -- starts and stops take a lot of time, and time is money. And when they get their quilt back, they always love what I've done and were glad I talked them out of matching thread colors.

The great thing about quilting is that it's YOUR quilt, and you can do it any way you want. Even if you drive yourself crazy in the process. BTDT!

*grin*
Reply to
Kathy Applebaum

I dont see any reason why you cant.Just watch out for any puckering when/if you go back to the "missed" bits!

Reply to
Estelle Gallagher

Reply to
Pat in Virginia

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