free-motion

It is done!  The loopy quilting on the ORBCo quilt is done!  I may have risked life and limb (or, you know, naptime) to finish it this afternoon, but I made it. And the kids stayed asleep.  Whew!

Honestly, I think it felt somehow easier than a “normal” stipple.  Maybe it was the ease with which I could go back and fill in spots, or the lack of fear of crossing over.  And thanks to all of your suggestions, I am SO happy I went with a pink thread.  It’s the “petal pink” from Connecting Threads and I was very happy with it.  Yes, I had to have a lint intervention once or twice, but going that crazy with a free motion foot, I’d hardly expect anything else.  And the quilting itself has made it so crinkly… I’m fascinated to see how this all comes out in the wash!

I used the majority of a 1200-yard spool, but not so much that I worried I’d run out.  I’d estimate it was about 10-12 bobbins.  It probably took me around 6 hours total, over the course of four days.  I worked on it in 30-90 minute blocks of time, since it pretty much always has to be done while the kids are asleep.

As with many things that we fear, the hardest part is just getting started.  Once I was in there, it went fine, and I just wanted to get it DONE!  I’m super happy with how it turned out, and though there was some serious wrestling, an extra needle, a few spots of messy knots on the back, and other… ahem… things that give it some handmade charm… I’m really proud of it.

Now, all that remains is binding!  Dare I take this behemoth with me to Florida this weekend?

Though I have made strides in recent months, the actual act of quilting is nearly always the most daunting part of the whole thing for me. I’m never sure exactly what to do when it comes to design, for one thing. I’ve always been terrible at drawing, and quilting (especially free-motion) is a lot like drawing to me. Plus, even with confidence in ability, there are so many darn choices! Zig zags here, swirls there. In-the-ditch, crossed lines, meandering… it’s just so overwhelming.

Add in the gargantuan size (well, at least, the largest quilt I’ve ever made) of the ORBCo quilt, and I’ve been putting it off. Even more so once I had my thread mishap. Not only was I waiting for the thread to arrive, but I also got into completing my nine-patch quilt. In fact, even though my new thread arrived today, I was all geared up to baste my nine-patch quilt sandwich. Except… oh yeah… I used pretty much ALL of my safety pins on the other one. Doh!

Alright. No more excuses. I’ve got a backlog of projects waiting to be started and another quilt in need of the pins.  Last night, I finally sat down and started quilting this big honkin’ thing.  And you know what?  Not too shabby!  On the recommendation of someone in the Flickr group, I sort of mentally divided the quilt into quadrants to have a way to keep track of where I am, and to bite off a manageable chunk.  It took about an hour and a half and three bobbins, but I have finished the first quadrant and am really quite pleased with it!

The husband took the kids for the morning and gave me a bit of a free pass for a few hours (sigh, the bliss), so I’m right back at it.  Mark my words, I am not taking the free-motion foot off of my machine until this thing is DONE!

Besides.  There are nine-patches waiting impatiently in the wings.