Whew! I'm squeaking in just under the wire this month with my Celtic knot cross! It turned out really neat.
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| Finished Celtic Knot Cross |
Our guest "teacher" for the Free Motion Quilting Project for April was Don Linn. He showed us a neat marking technique that uses tulle. Basically, put a piece of tulle (fine netting) into an embroidery hoop, trace your pattern with a permanent marker, heat set it (so it doesn't smear all over your nice fabric!), and then use that as a pattern to trace onto your fabric, with a removable ink pen or chalk pencil.
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| My Tulle Pattern |
Someone on the FMQ Challenge Facebook page suggested putting the tulle into a cardboard frame instead of the embroidery hoop. I really liked this idea for a couple of reasons. I didn't have to be so careful about not stretching the tulle out of shape, and it will store nice and flat.
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| Pattern traced onto my fabric |
I really wish I had known about this before I marked the t-shirt quilt. I think it would have been a bit more accurate than what I did.
I didn't have a chance till the end of the month to work on the challenge because my sewing machine is still down and out. I borrowed one from our sewing group. What a difference compared to my old machine! This one is no spring chicken either, but my old machine would break thread every ten minutes and I just couldn't keep the tension consistent. This machine, an Elnita 250 by Elna, works so much better.
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| The cross is qulted! |
I quilted the cross, and then decided to stipple around it, hoping to make it stand out a bit more. This is the first stippling I've done other than a bit of practice. On the back side I used up an off-white bobbin. It was a bit darker
than what I used on the front. The cross really stands out better.
Unfortunately, I ran out of that thread less than a quarter of the way
through so I can't use the back for the front.
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| with the stippling, before I washed out the purple disappearing ink |
I was all set to look for a new machine two weeks ago, but then our car got hit - took the bumper off the back and smushed the rear quarter panel - and needed some major repairs. Luckily the insurance covers it, but we've got a rental car that only my husband can drive. Which means, I can't go far unless I want to man-handle the gas-guzzling truck. I'm so glad I've got the sewing group! Hopefully by the end of next month I'll have a new machine.
Until then,
Happy Quilting!
~ Kathy
