Welcome to Show 'n Tell day for the Road Home Row Along 2016! Don't forget to sign up for the two special giveaways - a bundle of fabric from Northcott and a book by Barbara Dieges 'A Thread Runs Through It'. Look to the right of this post and you'll find the Rafflecopter areas to sign up for both of these draws...and you only have Tuesday, October 11, 2016 to win these!!
Well....should I start by complaining about the quilting that didn’t work? Not very interesting, or inviting to readers, I think! I haven't decided whether to hang this up over the entrance or to use it as a table runner.
I have definitely challenged myself to stretch my
skills and I’ll bet that I’ll get better with every project. I’m working on FMQ (free motion quilting, as
they put it these days) and am using Wonderfil Invisifil on top and in the
bobbin. I finally worked out the bugs
with my Bernina using this thread, but I’m away from home right now and brought
my Singer Quantum to use. So, of course,
I’ve gone ‘back to the drawing board’ to try to get my sewing even and
easy. For those of you who haven’t tried
this, I’ve seen the recommendations to use this thread for dense quilting. I wanted to try it so that my stitching
wouldn’t be the most visible thing on my quilt.
I’ve followed a number of suggestions to keep the thread from shredding
or breaking:
- Change the needle to a smaller one (on my Bernina, I can use Jeans 70/10 quite nicely or Embroidery 75/11);
- Loosen the tension;
- Re-thread the machine;
- Avoid putting the thread through the final loop before it goes into the eye of the needle;
- All attempts in, I’m still having ‘shredding’ thread problems, but I'll keep experimenting!
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| The block as sewn |
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| The block after colouring with Neocolor ii |
The other thing I wanted to try was some ‘colouring’ on some of the blocks with Neocolor ii by Caran d’Ache. I’ve read a few blog posts on this and how easy it is to use to colour fabric and still keep the colour permanent. I coloured the rock on block 1 of my row to try to make the red look more ‘rock’ like.
I used several shades of grey on it, then used a brush and textile medium to blend the colours. I could have used water as well. I think it worked ‘okay’, but I should have tried harder in the beginning to find the right fabric. I can say that using these wax pastels does not make the fabric stiff and the colour is permanent. I also shaded a few other elements in the row (like the inukshuk). I'm still not sure about my highway rock cuts and I may end up taking then out and replacing the fabric!
The trees in all the blocks are going to wait until
I get home – I seem to have left the bag with the rest of my thread at home.
If you look closely at the quilting, you'll notice that some of the other quilting isn't finished either!
I think I have to go back and thread paint the sunset into the water, don't you?
Thanks for visiting!
Good luck with the giveaways - someone has to win them and the prizes are only available today, Tues. Oct. 11, 2016! And these aren't the only giveaways for today's Show 'n Tell. Take a look at these other sites and see their final Road Home projects:
Good luck with the giveaways - someone has to win them and the prizes are only available today, Tues. Oct. 11, 2016! And these aren't the only giveaways for today's Show 'n Tell. Take a look at these other sites and see their final Road Home projects:
Shredding thread can make you crazy! Sorry for the trouble, hope you get it sorted out.
ReplyDeleteI love what you are doing with this row, looks awesome.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love that your pushing yourself to do something different. We should all be so encouraged to do so. Just keep on keepin on and ya know it will all come. I just tried the BSR on my machine a few weeks ago and it was the first time I'd used the BSR since I bought the machine last year. Not so much out of a fear of using it, I just really wanted to try it, so did it on a project I don't really give a hoot about. It was fun and I can't wait to use it again. I love working with embellishment and the Caran watercolor chalksr are pretty nice to use. Expensive, but nice. :)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love that your pushing yourself to do something different. We should all be so encouraged to do so. Just keep on keepin on and ya know it will all come. I just tried the BSR on my machine a few weeks ago and it was the first time I'd used the BSR since I bought the machine last year. Not so much out of a fear of using it, I just really wanted to try it, so did it on a project I don't really give a hoot about. It was fun and I can't wait to use it again. I love working with embellishment and the Caran watercolor chalksr are pretty nice to use. Expensive, but nice. :)
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the rows come to life
ReplyDeleteI love how you add so much detail with the quilting; great job!
ReplyDeleteVery nice you really get into your work...gl with the thread problem.... love and tyty for doing the road home,,,,,,, happyness04431@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteEverything is so pretty. Love your quilting. Thank you for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteyour work is lovely. thanks for all the tips. I am still practicing with FMQ.
ReplyDeleteGreat work, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletecork@pa.rr.com
I would make it so you could use as a tablerunner and over your door wallhanging, change it when you want to.
ReplyDeleteSad to see the one end, so much great talent. crystalbluern at tds dot net
ReplyDeletePlaying with rows is what it's all about. Even the fails are a great learning experience and we all learn from each other. It's been a fun hop. I'm sad to see it come to an end! Now I'm off the try coloring on my rows!
ReplyDeleteNicely done. We would not have noticed any problems but thank you for sharing your quilting journey. I used glow in the dark thread to applique stitch my space row. Arghh! It was quite the challenge but I got it done. Not to the quality of my usual applique but good enough.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of Quilting Tangent to make it so you can use the quilt as table runner or wall hanging. It will be enjoyable to look at either way.
I've never done any thread painting...I'll have to try it someday. Beautiful work on your rows!
ReplyDeleteYour row is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYour work looks great. We are always our most vocal critics. Your row is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI love what you did. It looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteSo peaceful and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteGreat job with your row.
ReplyDeleteNice idea to use pieces of rows.
ReplyDeleteI love the sunset sky! A little thread painting would look awesome.
ReplyDeleteAll of the rows were beautiful! Thanks for sharing with us!
ReplyDeleteThe row by row hop has been fantastic. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYour row looks good to me, and the rocks are just one of five blocks, all of which have outstanding eye catchers. The row looks great, the block looks great, as is. Don't take it out. Use the time to make something else. =)
ReplyDeleteThanks - you're probably right. It's a lesson to learn from, right?
DeleteThe quilting looks good from here. Sometimes, dealing with machine problems is like dealing with a two year old during a temper tantrum! And sometimes, all it takes is a time-out! Walk away, and when you come back, it works. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI think your block row looks just wonderful! I'd be proud to put it anywhere.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job designing and carrying through on your block. Free motion is a trial and error sometimes. I have some projects that I have put back under the needle years later to add something more after lots of practice.
ReplyDeleteOh, I've had days like this too! I need to try thread painting soon. I've seen photos of projects using this and it is such a cool technique!
ReplyDeleteFree motion quilting takes lots and lots of practice. The same with the BSR. I'm still trying to get the hang of that. The hardest part is maintaining the same speed moving the quilt. My problem is drag, ugh. Keep at it. Thanks for sharing your talents with the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your kind comments. I'll post the completed runner when I get back to my Bernina and can finish it!!
ReplyDelete