I started this mystery quilt last spring. It has been on the shelf waiting for Winter Stars to be done. I've been able to focus on it last week, plugging away on the quilting. I wrapped that up this weekend - all I need to do is square it and bind it.
At some point I tried using a ruler to quilt straighter lines. Nope. Just as bad as I remember the last time I tried that. Maybe I'll try ruler quilting when I get a nifty longarm machine. Ha.
Do you recall I had some bobbin tension issues? I spent some time on the bobbin before quilting. I don't have a tension gauge, so I tested it by filling a little canister (remember when cameras needed film?) with safety pins then clipping it onto the thread. The bobbin needed tight enough for the canister to pull the thread a bit at a time but not so loose to drop to the floor. With a bit of trial and error I discovered 22 grams is a good spot. Stitches are even no matter which direction I quilted.
That was both good and bad. Lovely stitches! Yay! But when I didn't like the curved quilting, those lovely snug stitches were a pain to rip out! Ugh! They're out now and replaced with more straight stitching.
Straight line quilting can be a challenge! I always think of mine as "straight-ish!" You were very creative in figuring out the tension issue. That's going to be a beautiful finish!
ReplyDeleteLove this quilt! I like how you figured out you tension problems. Very smart!
ReplyDeleteI bought a little gadget from the Featherweight Shop to measure bobbin tension, and I think your clever invention does the exact same thing :)
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