I started hand quilting Feathered Stars. I finished the top back in March of this year.
I used the pattern from 19th Century Patchwork Divas' Treasury of Quilts by Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle. I'm also hand quilting mine similar to the one in the book too. I knew I wanted to quilt in feathers somewhere in Feathered Stars. It looks like the quilting in the book was done on a machine; however, I am not good at quilting on my DSM and have better control with hand quilting designs like this as well as the straight lines. PLUS I enjoy hand quilting and find it relaxing. I don't enjoy quilting on the DSM and find it far from relaxing.
I've used this feathered wreath stencil several times before and I was lucky that it fit the centers of the stars in this quilt.
So far I've hand quilted all of the star centers. I used chalk and a pounce pad to mark on the dark centers and...
...I used a purple disappearing ink pen I had on hand still in the dusty package and never been used to mark the lighter centers. It's been a week and the ink still hasn't disappeared yet so I guess I need to apply a damp cloth now and believe in magic.
11 comments:
I agree with you...hand quilting is far more relaxing and enjoyable than machine quilting. I don't trust those disappearing ink pens...I would rather use a regular pencil and have those light gray marks (from the pencil)on the quilt than something blue or purple. I also use white chalk or pencil to mark my quilts. If you use a light hand with the pencil the marks seem like a shadow of the hand quilting.
I am looking forward to loading a quilt on the frame after the holidays!
Hand quilting adds such a beautiful touch to a quilt. I admire your work and those of other hand quilters. I find it relaxing too for the most part, but I find it hard to stitch for long periods of time, so I have to FMQ.
Gorgeous quilting!
The feathered wreath does look perfect for the star centers! I hope you find a way to get rid of the marks.
It was a delight to see your feathered stars. I love the feather wreath quilting. I, too, don't like doing machine quilting. It is beautiful but I don't enjoy doing it at all. I much prefer hand quilting. I usually keep a spray bottle by the frames when I'm quilting with a marking pen. I spray down the area rather well after I've finished the stitching and the marks disappear quickly. I hope that helps.
Somehow I must have missed the earlier finished flimsy post. I love how you take a traditional pattern like this and make it whimsically your own. It's going to be wonderful with the hand quilting. If it were mine I'd call it Feathering my Nest.
I love the play on words here ... feathered stars with chickens in the middle! Hahaha!! Now you're quilting feathered wreaths in the centers! Too funny and beautiful work!
I also prefer hand quilting over machine - both as a method and esthetically. But as slow as I am with the hand quilting, I can see that I need to get better with the machine work if I'm ever to have any hope of finishing half the quilts I start!
I read that Crayola washable markers can be used for marking quilting lines, so I tried some on sample fabric and washed it. Sure enough, the lines washed right out, but I'm awfully afraid that all that proves is that it works on a sample... (Still haven't been brave enough to try it on something I actually care about!)
This is a cozy time of year for hand quilting, and I like your feathered stars! Soon I will be hand quilting the center medallion of a quilt I had longarmed. It's a sashiko that I will echo somehow. I look forward to quilting under the quilt while the snow is falling outside.
I do most of my quilting using a walking foot and have gotten pretty good at echoing and slight curves. I do think free motion by DSM is very stressful, so if I think a quilt calls for swirls, I quilt "by check" and am lucky to have a friend who does a great job.
It's going to look fantastic. Kudos to you for the handquilting. I put that aside years ago when I starated FMQ. I now have a sit down long arm but I actually think I did pretty well on my DSM!
Crossing my fingers on the purple ink! Your feathered friends are looking great in their extra feathers :)
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