I finished quilting on my ohio stars quilt last night....right in the middle of watching CSI! I didn't want to miss the episode to start on the binding, so I picked up the next basted quilt I was going to work on, and started stitching away. I've got a few fans done down one side of the border on the "shoofly" quilt....So far so good.
You can see I've marked the fans with regular old white blackboard chalk. It's cheap, you can sharpen it in a pencil sharpener if you want (the big sized hand sharpener kind) and the marks stay long enough to see them, but brush away pretty easily if you need them to!
I've discovered something though....I just went from quilting with WOOL batting on the ohio stars, to quilting with hobbs 80/20 in the shooflies, and there is a DEFINATE DIFFERENCE in how it needles! Quilting the wool was like quilting through butter. It is loftier than the cotton, but it needles SO easy. It was a dream to hand quilt.
I love hobbs 80/20 for machine quilting. I think it can't be beat for the look that it gives, but for hand quilting? I think I'm preferential to wool, or the 100% organic cotton from hobbs, or quilter's dream cotton. It's just more hand quilting friendly than the 80/20 is.
I'll finish this quilt, and the amish one that is layered with hobbs 80/20 black (because I needed a black batting in it) but for future hand quilting jobs, I'm sticking to wool or 100% cotton that is easier to needle!
Today I'm going to attach the binding and the hanging sleeve to the ohio stars quilt and start the hand work on that tonight. I'll post a pic of the finished quilt as soon as it is bound and washed to get the markings out!
Bonnie
I love your shoo fly quilt! And of couse the fans look great with it! How are you going to quilt the center part?
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge Quilters Dream fan for both hand and machine quilting. I like the feel and texture of the quilt after it is washed with the Quilters Dream. But I've heard wool is wonderful to quilt with. I'll have to try it!
Bonnie, it looks great! When you mark your fans, are you marking them freehand or using something for the curves?
ReplyDeleteI've heard wool is amazing for hand quilting, although I never tried it. I have a piece here that a customer gave me to try...I'll have to dig it out!
Bonnie, have you tried the Quilters Dream wool? I have not but I will order some next time I make a QD order.
ReplyDeleteI love your fans.
Do you machine baste with water soluble thread or do you pick the threads out?
After you baste, do you still use a hoop or something for quilting?
Sorry for so many questions!
Thanks!
Judy L.
Great job Bonnie! You sure were productive!
ReplyDeleteHugs
Laurie
Thanks Bonnie for your thoughts on the different battings. I have often wanted to make my own wool batts from my own wool, just drum carding it. May just try it some time. The only problem is laundering the quilt. Not exactly machine washable then.
ReplyDeleteYou do such pretty work Bonnie !
The fans look wonderful Bonnie. I second your motion on batting. I've quilted through wool, and it's wonderful..not enthused about the different cotton batts tho, except with perle cotton and a bigger needle.
ReplyDeleteHurrah for finishing the ohio stars - can't wait to see it. So nice to just have a pile of quilts waiting for you so you never have to stop quilting. Very clever.
ReplyDeleteI'm wildly allergic to wool, so no wool batting for me. I'll try the Quilter's Dream next time I buy.