Bubble Up Lap Quilt - Where two spirals meet
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| Bubble Up fabric strips |
I didn't get fancy, I just sewed all of the strips together. The fabric is so colourful and amazing that I didn't want to mess with it (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)
It took me a while to figure out how to quilt it since the fabric was too busy, colourful and amazing. It wouldn't have been worth doing any fancy free motion quilting (FMQ). So I didn't.
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| Quilting spirals using my walking foot |
I started by watching the first of Jacquie Gering's walking foot courses, Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot. I then watched her second course, Next Steps With Your Walking Foot. Jacquie is a really excellent teacher and her courses are interesting and instructive. I highly recommend them!
So how to quilt my Bubble Up Lap Quilt - with a walking foot using spirals. I learned so much from watching the courses and quilting this piece.
I'll be mentioning what I learned below but I did want to talk about the constructive interference that I experienced when these two spirals met. If you look at the picture, you will probably start to cringe!
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| Constructive interference - when two spirals meet |
It looks like my quilt top wasn't quite taunt enough and trouble was coming. Anyway, I wasn't in any mood to remove any of the stitching, so I forged ahead. Yup, my quilt has some lovely pleats where the two spirals met. At that point, Better Done Than Perfect was my mantra. If you examine it closely, you can see the lovely pleats, but otherwise they are quite inconspicuous.😊
I looked in my stash for fabric to bind the quilt but really, none of it was up to these amazing colours - so I just had to find an online store in Canada that had some Bubble Up fabric. My fabric is coming to me from East Coast Quilt Co, in St. John's, Newfoundland. If I can't travel, at least my fabric can!
Since it was a beautiful day, I went out with my son and Chevy for a photo shoot to a deserted park down the street.
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| Bubble Up - where two spirals meet |
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| Fun with Chevy |
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| There's a lot going on in that quilt! |
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| Bubble Up Quilt basking in the sun |
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| See the flowers blooming - oh, and there's the quilt! |
What I learned
- As you know, I love free motion quilting (FMQ) but since I've been using my walking foot to make journal covers, I've come to appreciate it. I thought that it would be good to try out quilting with the walking foot on this quilt.
- Jacquie Gering warned us that quilting spirals with the walking foot could be tricky. It is! The hardest thing to master, in my opinion, is turning the quilt around while not leaving a trace on the quilting. I have quite a few tiny bumps in the quilting. I'm sure that if I had been in a more zen mood that it would have gotten better earlier in the quilting. I was getting the hang of it by the end.
- I used a colourful variegated King Tut thread for the top of the quilt - and I wasn't sure that I would have enough. I'm happy to report that I did, although I don't think that there's much left on the spool.
- I love the secondary pattern that comes from the two spirals intersecting.
- I'm really looking forward to binding the quilt when my fabric arrives. Of course, I'll post it when it's finished!
- BluPrint (Craftsy) courses with Jacquie Gering:
- Constructive interference - when waves overlap
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| Free Motion Mavericks |
I will be linking up to many fun linky parties, including Free Motion Mavericks which is with Muv this week. Make sure that you go link up - it's not only about FMQ!
I'm also linking up with Sandra's DrEAMi quilt party, as well as many other fun linking parties. Let's check them out and see what's going on while we stay home and quilt! Peacock Party, Friday Foto Fun, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Tuesday Colour and Inspiration, What I Made Monday, Monday Making,