8 of Cups - finished

After the quilting was finished, I marked out the finished size: 24" x 60", sewed a tight straight stitch just inside the marked line, then trimmed it to size.

To finish the edge, I chose 3 different cords that picked up the colors in the quilt and used them to make a couched twisted cord binding.

DETAILS

In the home stretch...

The quilting is done!

I chose to do my curvy meandering fill stitching that is reminiscent of leaves and flourish-y shapes in the white background areas to contrast all the linear stitching on the cups and flourishes.

I stitched with Bottomline thread which is generally used in the bobbin, it's a lighter weight thread, because I wanted the stitched lines to be more subtle.

Next:
cropping and binding.

What I learned...
Because I like experimenting and trying things differently, I always learn something new with every project. Sometimes I discover a great new way of working and sometimes it turns out that my initial idea created unexpected challenges or wasn't as successful as I'd hoped.

As you may recall, I used wool rayon felt instead of batting, because I wanted a flat smooth finish for this piece. I used felt a friend had given me that she most likely had sitting around for about 15 years. I had two issues that popped up from using this.

The first one was the stiffness of the felt, compared to batting, made it more difficult for manipulating under the harp of the machine. I think 30 inches would be the widest I would recommend working with felt. Wider than that and I could see some definite limitations to quilting the surface smoothly. I had to roll and fold the piece to work the central areas which sometimes got a little cumbersome.

The second issue came about after I fused my top to the felt. I had a fair amount of rippling of the top due to it not fusing completely in all areas or staying fused for the duration of the quilting (it's possible there may have been a finish on the felt that kept it from adhering), as well as some possible shrinkage of the felt by the high temperature and steam used while fusing.

After the cups and flourishes had been quilted there was a significant amount of buckling in the white areas, I don't think the fusible web was even sticking anymore at that point, luckily the open areas were not very large, maybe 9" at the widest so it didn't present too much of a problem and it all smoothed out nicely with the quilting.

Conclusion: would I use felt again? Yes, but I would take size into consideration, if I was working on a particularly large piece I would probably use a lightweight batting instead. I would also pretest the wool to make sure I didn't have a problem with adhesion when fusing. I think a newer piece of wool felt wouldn't have had the adhesion problems that this one had, I suspect it had a finish on it.

8 of Cups progress

I have been really loving spending time stitching! There are some other things I really should be doing, but I am feeling so in the groove right now, I don't want to stop.

I decided to continue using monofilament for stitching the feathery flourishes since I do not want to obscure this part of the painted surface with lines of thread and because the monofilament is relatively clear, the more noticeable holes punched by the needle through the fabric gives another kind of visual patterning that I think is kind of interesting.

Next, I'll begin to fill in the white areas using Bottom Line white thread.

Chicago's first winter snowstorm today, stay warm.

Have you ever been challenged by monofilament?

Monofilament is clear thread, similar to a light weight fishing line that is a perfect solution when you need to add stitching but don't want the thread to be prominent. I personally love MonoPoly by Superior, it's a strong, matte, polyester thread that comes in clear for light to medium colors of fabric and smoke to be used with medium to dark colors.

Monofilament can be technically challenging when sewing if you don't make a few tension adjustments to your machine and adjust how your spool unwinds.

The biggest problem: Tangling and breaking. When you slow down or stop sewing and the tension is let up on monofilament, because of its natural elastic springy nature, it keeps unwinding and spins around the back of the spool, causing the thread to break.

Using a thread stand helps but, as soon as the tension is off (ie slowing down or stopping) the thread tends to spin around the spindle either above or (worse) below the spool. Snap!

Solution: place the spool in a bowl next to the thread stand and run the monofilament up through the top hook of the stand and then over to the machine.

Use a thread guide on your thread spindle to help control that active thread.

Second problem: Tight thread tension. Monofilament, like metallic thread, requires a looser tension setting on the machine. 

Solution part 1: Loosen the top thread tension, the lower the number the lower the tension.

When I first started quilting 20+ years ago, it was not recommended to put monofilament in your bobbin as well as the top. I can no longer remember exactly why, but I've never had a problem, maybe the quality of the thread is a lot better now. Also some machines are just finicky about thread, if your machine has issues, try something like Bottom Line in the bobbin. 

Solution part 2: Loosen the tension on the bobbin case. Make a quarter turn on the top larger screw, usually counter clockwise. I guess that depends on how you're holding the bobbin, for mine if the thread is on the left side, it's counter clockwise. 

It's easy to check if it's looser by letting your bobbin dangle when holding the thread. It should drop down a little bit. If you are afraid to mess with the tension screw on your bobbin case, buy another spare and mark it with a dot of fingernail polish.

Lastly I recommend using a top stitch needle, my favorites are the titanium ones.

Following these easy steps you should never have problems stitching with monofilament.

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Happy New Year!

Indigo and I took in the new year at a tavern in the neighborhood that hosted a wig themed new years party. What fun we had! One thing I'll really miss about living in Chicago is being able to go out for a night of fun and walk home or just hop in a cab.

I wanted to start the new year off with a great meal. I came across a recipe for an apricot stuffed roast pork loin that sounded fantastic but I decided to make a few changes by using dried apricots and cherries and roasting it over a bed of root vegetables. 

I went to one of the butchers in the neighborhood, and asked for a boneless pork loin, so he pulled out a whole side of pork about two and a half feet long with ribs attached and cut a gorgeous roast for me, cutting it away from the ribs and tossing them on top before wrapping it up. 

January first was a day of howling icy cold winds and I was so glad I didn't have to go anywhere, but relax and cook a fine meal.

Roast Pork with Apricot, Cherry and Shallot Stuffing with mustard sauce and Root Vegetables

1 cup cubed bread, toasted in oven or skillet

1/2 cup chopped shallots

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 C dried apricots, quartered

1/4 dried cherries

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 (3- to 3 1/2-lb) center-cut boneless pork loin roast (3 - 4 inches in diameter)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 tablespoon of whole grain Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon flour

6-8 whole garlic cloves

4 chopped carrots

2 red potatoes 1/2" cubed

1/2 large onion rough chopped

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Make stuffing:

Cook shallots in butter over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add dried apricots, cherries and 1/3 cup chicken stock and cook, stirring until fruits are slightly softened and stock is reduced, about 3 minutes. 

Remove from heat and stir in bread, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Chop vegetables and toss with olive oil, spread in bottom of roasting pan, salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff and roast pork:

With a long knife, make a hole for stuffing that runs lengthwise through pork loin about 1 ½ - 2" wide.

Pack with stuffing from both ends, pushing it toward the center.

Pat pork dry, rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Heat heavy skillet over high heat until very hot and brown pork on all sides.

Transfer to the roasting pan on top of chopped vegetables (I tossed the ribs on top of the veggies along the side for more flavor) and roast in middle of oven until a meat thermometer (avoid stuffing) registers 158-160°F, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 20 minutes. 

Remove roasted vegetables to a serving bowl and keep warm.

Mustard Sauce

Add flour to ½  cup chicken stock and stir until flour is dissolved. 

While loin is standing, straddle roasting pan across stove burner. Add 1/2 cup white wine and any juices that run off pork to pan, deglaze by boiling over moderate heat, scraping up brown bits and reduce by half. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock/flour and mustard stir until it begins to boil and thicken. Serve on side.

It came out heavenly. The perfect hearty winter meal to start the year off right!

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Things were humming along and then...snap!

Isn't it ironic that my free-motion presser foot breaks at strength?! LOL

Well as frustrating as that is I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, this machine is over 20 years old and it is my favorite so it gets a lot of use. Luckily I found a replacement online pretty quick and have ordered a new foot.

I've been stitching the cups first, adding strong black lines to echo the illustration style of the vintage anatomical heart engraving and using monofilament across the rest of the cup to secure the fabric but not add as much visual texture.

Happy New Year!!!

I am definitely ready for a new one, things have got to start getting better!

Pre order Quilting Arts TV Series 900

Earlier this fall, I taped three segments for Quilting Arts TV series 900:

For the first one I demonstrate a variety of techniques for discharging fabric using two less toxic products; Color Remover by RIT and DeCorourant. I show a couple shibori type methods with the RIT product and use freezer paper stencils, stamping and printing with thermofax screens with DeColourant. The two articles I have in the most recent Quilting Arts magazine and the Feb 2012 issue cover these products and techniques.

On the second segment I demonstrate machine quilting the Christmas tree skirt I designed for last years Quilting Arts Gifts issue and this coincides with some of the information I covered in the article on machine quilting in the October issue of Quilting Arts.

And in the last segment I paint with acrylic inks on cotton fabric (April QA issue), demonstrating layering color, stamping, creating a watercolor look and drawing with acrylic ink in quill pens.

Quilting Arts TV Series 900 - Pre Order now

Featured artists include: Charlotte Angotti, Margaret Applin, Ana Buzzalino, Diane Rusin Doran, Jamie Fingal, Debra Gabel, Candy Glendening, Helen Gregory, Laura Heine, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Heather Jones, Susan Brubaker Knapp, Barbara Olsen, Judy Coates Perez, Pat Sloan, Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero, Sarah Vedeler, Elin Waterston, and Terry White.

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