Saturday, December 17, 2016

Grip and Stitch Quilting Tool and More Quilting

I have been quilting for two hours and need a break!  So I'm stopping to just show you my progress and also share a quilting tool that I really love!

When I start to quilt something, I usually make myself a small sandwich to warm up on and to make sure my tension is right.  So here is today's warmup:


The motif in the bottom left corner is what I decided to use in the top and bottom triangle edges left as a result of the chevrons.   Got that all done!  Yahoo!  Here is a pic of one of those:

I realized that I probably quilted too close to the edge on some of those and the binding is going to cover up some of the ends of the feathers.  I am NOT redoing those.  Forging ahead!

Next I tackled the odd shaped white rows between the chevrons and hearts.  I pondered and pondered what to do there and I think something with straight lines would have been kind of cool there but I'm not good at straight lines yet and don't own any rulers right now.  So I went with some allover patterns.  The first one is supposed to be a paisley meander.  It doesn't look NEARLY as nice as the way Angela Walters does it and in fact is kind of unrecognizable, but that row is done.


The next row I did in spirals.  I am trying REALLY heard to make bigger patterns and I think I succeeded in making them larger than I usually do, but they are still denser than I wanted to do.


I've got one more row of white allover pattern to do, and one more row of hearts and then I can start binding!  YAHOO!!!

Now I would like to share a tool with you that I absolutely love.  

They are called Grip and Stitch Quilt Discs.  They are an alternative to using quilting gloves.  A lot of people use the Machingers gloves when they quilt and they do work very well, but they are a pain to have to keep putting on and taking off when you need to change the bobbin.  Last September, I won a tool in a giveaway by Ellen Holder at Clever Craft Tools.  Thanks again, Ellen!  I am so pleased with these and I use them all the time!  (not affiliated, just like them!)

I hope you will go visit Ellen's site to read about them in detail and if you decide to buy them, tell her Janice sent you. Leah Day also recently did a blog post about them and she said that her dad, who suffers from arthritus, can quilt much longer using these than when using the gloves.  When I need to change a bobbin or get more thread, I just set them on top of my machine until I'm done, grab them and go!

Also, a big thank you to Alison at Little Bunny Quilts who showed me something new this week. I am definoitely a lover of learning.   I didn't know there was a way on Bloglovin to see what your blog rank is.   I'm not into trying to make money with my blog, but I'm a HUGE statistics lover and I am excited to track if there is a way to show I am improving.   So this is going to be fun.  I signed up for the Analytics and since I haven't done a post since I signed up, I'm assuming I'm at the very bottom.  It will be interesting to see what happens to my rank after this post!   Out of over 60,000 blogs, Alison is 820!  WOW!!!

Here is where I am before today's post.  Ha!  Ha!  I've got lots of room for improvement!

I sure do enjoy this and reading other quilting blogs too.  Hope you all are having a great weekend!


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11 comments:

  1. Janice, you are amazing. Seriously! Your quilting is something I hope I can make mine look like one day.
    Those grip discs look pretty neat. I might have to check that out.

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  2. You are too picky in my view, your quilting is excellent and just continues to improve. To me you are a real quilter, like most of us, not perfect but getting better all the time. Your machine quilting is what I aspire to. I haven't seen the quilting discs before, thank you for sharing,

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  3. We are definitely our own worse critics! I think your quilting is wonderful-good grief you only learned how a few months ago!! You might already know this but...I usually make a mark on the quilt with chalk or purple disappearing pen 1/2" in from the edge so I don't cut off the design when I bind. Sometimes I forget:( But nope I don't rip either.

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  4. Great quilting here Janice - can't wait to see the finished quilt!

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  5. Looking great, Janice! Woo hoo! You're almost done with this gorgeous quilt :)

    My secret for dealing with quilting too close to the edge is that I just trim the quilt another quarter inch wider. As long as the binding hides the gap between quilt top and batting, it works out fine for me.

    I'm intrigued by the discs. I use the gloves and like them a lot, but you're right that it's a pain to keep taking them off. I inevitably drop one on the floor and my quilting chair is so high that it's hard to reach down and retrieve the glove. I guess that qualifies as a "first world problem," though :)

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  6. Wow!!! Your quilting is gorgeous! and those discs look cool!!! No hand cramping?

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  7. Your quilting looks great. I quilted today as well, but I chickened out and just did simple loops.

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  8. Awesome quilting! I LOVE feathers and swirls! and thanks for the information on the discs, I have to check that out and the analytics, too. Back to quilting for me now!

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  9. The quilting looks great. Hopefully you've finished all the quilting and the binding is done too. Have a very happy holiday!

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  10. You have done a beautiful job! I am amazed- you Just started this year- are you suuure?? Great work, wow!
    Bloglovin analytics are awesome, i am just as hooked! Ha!

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I LOVE meeting new quilting friends and always respond to comments so I'd love to hear from you!