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Sunday 30 June 2013

Philosophy Of Machine Quilting

I don't profess to be an expert machine quilter; I am merely one who is comfortable with what she is doing.  I enjoy both the process and the result.  Because it is unmarked, my stitching is not always even and frankly, I like it that way.  To my eye, it gives a charming look, one which signals that the stitching is not computerised but that each has been done individually.  Sewing continuous curves in a square block is particularly satisfying, both in terms of speed and effect.  I've chosen to quilt the Nine Patch blocks this way.
In conversation when folks ask if I quilt by hand or machine, I often say I 'hand quilt by machine'.  I've heard long-armers say "your eye corrects the imperfections in your lines" but I don't think that's right at all...I think your eye IGNORES the lines, and focuses instead on the "poufs".  What do you zoom in on when you look at these squares?  To me it is the pattern created by the gentle puff in each block.
Here's where I am so far:  the main part is all quilted - continuous curves and feathered wreaths - and now it's time to decide how to do the border.
I was hoping for divine inspiration to strike but it hasn't and I'm a bit stumped as to whether to treat each of the three stripes in the border individually, or as one.  I am leaning towards one big feather up the entire width of the border

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful work. I keep trying for work that looks like that.

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  2. I like the puffs. Your quilt still looks 'squooshie' (and that's a good thing). Lovely work, as usual.

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  3. Lovely! I don't mark my quilts either......have heard horror tales about markers not washing out, or re-appearing after a year or two. On one of my quilts I treated the multiple borders as one, and quilted a flower and leaf design across all three.

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  4. I once saw a quilt that was spirals quilted over some house blocks. The quilting thread was white and the quilt had a beige background. Sadly, all I saw was the quilting, because, to me, it looked like she had rolled out the barbed wire in front of her houses.
    You machine quilting is perfect as far as I am concerned.
    Happy Canada Day!

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  5. Your quilting is soooo elegant... I hear what you say and visualize it in my head but when I try to transmit the message to my hands to guide my machine I end up having to stipple... My BIG future goal is to master this art!!!

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