I don't know if you've heard or not, but my friend
Cheryl is heading up a quilt block drive. She is collecting slabs from all who are willing to help and she (and a team of volunteers) will make them into quilts for the people affected by the floods in her area.
If you have an hour, I'd encourage you to dig out your scraps and make a slab or two or three for a good cause. You can read all the details on her post
here and you can see some photos of the after affects
here. The photos are hard to look at, but it's nice to be able to help in some small way.
After 4 bouts of stippling gone bad, (ugh!) I finally abandoned the idea of free motion quilting this quilt. (You can see the full shot of the quilt
here.)
I switched gears, set up the Janome and started straight line quilting. It's SO much easier.
I only had to mark one line with chalk (so far) and I'm using the guide bar to echo the subsequent lines. It's slick! If you look closely at the photo, you will see that I'm actually using the bar upside down. I do
not know why they put the guide bar to the right of the walking foot. The more lines you quilt the more bulk you have between the needle and the machine. That is not very helpful at all! But, if you use the guide bar to the left of the walking foot the bulk of the quilt pools to the left of the machine, making it much easier to manage. I figured this out on my
last project that I did grid quilting on. Flipping the guide bar has made things so much easier! It feels so good to see progress on this quilt. Finally!
Happy Wednesday to you!
Thanks so much for sharing that tip/photo. I haven't used mine yet (still working on my very first quilt) but I was wondering the same thing when I was assembling my new machine a few weeks ago and looking at all the parts/accessories. I'm glad to know it works ok if you do it "backwards".
ReplyDeleteDid the thread keep breaking when you tried to stipple this quilt? Why does that happen on some projects? I have a Juki and it doesn't happen often but when it does I just don't understand it.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea to flip the guide bar!
ReplyDeleteWow, great idea fing the guide bar. I just finished a whole quilt with the bulk under the harp the whole time. Now I know!
ReplyDeleteboo on the fmq. I got to use a horizon this past weekend. It was really dreamy. Of course I also busted my juki's tension knob. :( so sad. Hoping i can fix it myself this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered about that guide bar also. I love it, except its on the wrong side. I just inherited a new machine, and I sure hope it has one too!
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful "slab". I love straight line quilting.
ReplyDeleteLove that straight line quilting! Just lovely.
ReplyDeleteflipping the bar was a fantastic idea!!!
ReplyDeleteI flip my bar too. I think the person who designed that thing has never sewn a day in their life!
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of flipping the bar...I'm going to try that next time!
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one whose just had a revelation - I can get a guide bar!!! And yes I do live under a rock with my head in the clouds most of the time, why do you ask?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea about the side bar! Thank you for showing us. Also thank you for sharing the slab block!
ReplyDeleteEsther
esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo dot com
Ipatchandquilt dot wordpress dot com
OK, grid quilting with a guide bar...duh! I have never attempted it because I didn't want to mark an entire quilt. You are generous!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to see your bar up-side-down. I do that too for the same reason. Some machines the bar will work on either side, amkes itso much easier nnot trying to get all that bulk through that small space.
ReplyDeleteI just figured out how to attach my bar to my walking foot last night. It sure did make the straight line quilting faster and neater. I am working on a big pillow which right now is a small quilt so it didn't bother me to have it inside the throat. I did have to keep rotating the quilt to follow the lines. I will have to try turning it over. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteInteresting...my Bernina walking foot came with two bars--one for the left and one for the right. I guess they make it that way because of this issue.
ReplyDeleteJanome now have a walking foot for which you can put the guide on both sides (http://content.janome.com/index.cfm/machines/accessories/All/Convertible_Even_Feed_Foot_Set_(High_Shank_Models)). I just got one. And it goes quite well. It's fun to be able to switch sides.
ReplyDeleteGreat tip on the guide bar. See you in two weeks!
ReplyDeleteCan you get a mirror-image bar? My Viking came with both - one for each side. It might slide along easier. But if it's working the way it is, GREAT :D
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for that tip about putting the guide bar to the left of the foot. This has been quite a relevation for me!
ReplyDeleteI have done that with my guide bar too! Very helpful for those big,bulky quilts!
ReplyDeleteI have not used my guide bar yet - I'm a painter's tape gal. I will keep your tip in mind as I would like to try it. How far apart are your quilting lines on this project?
ReplyDeleteDoes your guide bar stay put from the beginning to the end of a row? Mine keeps sliding and I have to reposition it each time. I'm still trying to figure out a hack to make it stay put. Just wondering. :(
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us know about Cheryl's drive. I've made a slab and posted about it. It takes a World to help those in need.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting about us in calgary....we have a whole bunch of quilters working together, and Cheryl's idea is so great for those of us who only have a bit of time, or need to use up scraps ... :)
ReplyDeletethe pink slap is so pretty, dare not show my daughter as she will be green with envy. Will try my guide on the wrong side when I do a bit of quilting, makes much more sense.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip about the guide bar! The only part of quilting I don't really like is marking quilt lines--but had the same problem with my guide bar. I am going to try this on my next quilt. Yay!
ReplyDeleteThat's just plain genius about the guide bar. Why didn't I think of that? I hate that it's to the right of the needle.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was a dork because I couldn't figure out how to make the guide work to the left of my foot. Turns out I'm smarter than I think.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me about the slabs. It's such a worthy way to send a hug in an envelope.
Great idea with the guide bar -- that makes so much more sense!
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity (cause I have a Juki), why do you use your Janome for straight line quilting instead of your Juki?
Your quilt is looking so cute! :)
Glad to see that I'm not the only one to quilt with the guide bar upside down! I'd been feeling a little silly - but it does work!
ReplyDeleteI use an older Bernina model that came with a walking foot that has two guide bars, one for either side, so this has never come up for me. I just finished a quilt with parallel quilting lines using my machine's large zig zag (wiggle) stitch. The guide bar makes it so easy.
ReplyDeleteLike Susan and JaneB, my Bernina came with two guide bars. Maybe someone needs to give the companies that don't supply two bars a little nudge! I love quilting my projects without having to mark up the quilt. Great idea to flip it, though, if you don't have two bars.
ReplyDeleteFunny,I used my guide bar for the first time on my last quilt and just put it on the left side because it just seemed right!
ReplyDelete