I haven’t abandoned quilting amidst my printing and collaging. In fact, I finished “Whitewashed,” sewing straight line arrow heads with off white thread set at varying intervals.
After a long time (years?) without buying a quilting book, I bought Jacquie Gering’s latest walking foot quilting opus called “Walk 2.0.”
Of course I had to try out some of the quilting patterns, so I pulled out a top I made for Elizabeth Barton’s “Mod Meets Improv” class for a trial. I hadn’t planned to quilt this piece; in fact, I quilted only one of the four tops I made in the class. However, the top I chose, now upgraded to name status – “Pond”- has lots of negative space.
I read through “Walk 2.0” and decided that I will never put in the amount of marking involved with some designs, but thought I could handle one named Apple Core. It requires one set of quilting lines in each direction for a checkerboard effect, and then another set of curved lines in each direction on top of the first.
As of Thursday afternoon I’ve quilted about three-fourths of “Pond” and am waiting for cooler temps to finish it up.
Now that I’ve come this far I wonder how it would look done diagonally. I also wonder whether two colors of thread would have worked better, possibly sewing the checkerboard with a lighter color thread. Neither will happen with “Pond.” I plan to bind it with a solid green fabric, but haven’t yet chosen which of two under consideration.
Speaking of quilts but totally unrelated to my work, I want to recommend a series of videos Lisa Walton is making called “Quilt Stories.” Each week she talks with a quilt artist about one of their works – its inspiration, techniques, and challenges. The videos are free of highfalutin talk and often humorous. Case in point, Betty Busby offers a pro tip – use a toilet plunger (clean) to wash out dyed cloth.
The Snarky Quilter 
“Upgraded to name status.” Nice!
I usually give work I know I plan to finish a name early on in the development process. I guess not naming practice pieces is like not wanting to name a chicken you plan to eat; you don’t want to get too attached.
I first learned that quilting motif, done free motion, from Harriet Hargrave in her book Heirloom Machine Quilting, published in 1996. I still have the book with the page marked. She was one of the first to develop continuous line quilting so you don’t need to break the thread. She does the apple core line as an S curve in a path that has you filling a grid without ever stopping. She assumes you are quilting blocks made up of squares, but a marked grid would be needed for the negative space of your piece.
It would certainly be easier to do the curves free motion than the base grid, unless you did ruler work. The curves I sewed were gentle enough the walking foot worked fine. A swoopier curve would be more difficult.
Such a difference quilting makes. Your lines look so perfect. I like your ideas of using different colors of thread. I may have missed it (past post?) but did you say how you decide on the title – Pond? I look forward to seeing more of your walking foot exploration.
Masking tape is my friend for straight line quilting. The curved lines were eyeballed from center dots. The name Pond came from Elizabeth Barton’s comment that the top reminded her of a Lily pond. I will have to see if I have other tops to try out designs on
Thanks for that reply. I have both 1/8″ and 1/4″ masking tape and I agree, they are very helpful.
I love what you did with Whitewashed! Great placement of all the angles and the background fabric is perfect. Is it grunge?
Would like to see it in person some time.
I recently bought a few quilting books but will have to check out that one. The others deal with more shapes.
Have a good weekend!
Thanks. Yup, that’s grunge, which seems to be great in any color and pattern.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I have a pile of tops that need quilted. It is the part of the process I enjoy the least.
Jacquie’s books are thorough in giving a process to prep your quilts for best results. Yes, it seems too much, but I find results worth it. If you don’t want an advanced design, check out her first book, “Walk,” for simpler approaches.