Sew Thankful Blog » Panto

This entry is a continuation of my previous post.  If you didn’t read the previous entry you may find it helpful to understand what I’m doing:http://www.sewthankfulblog.com/?p=313

I haven’t completely finished my latest practice piece yet, but I can show you how it’s coming so far.

After I completed quilting the panto design over the entire surface of the top fabric, I began shadow quilting from the front using a darker shade (hence, a “shadow”) of Glide Thread.

The darker "shadow" thread was applied from the front of the machine.

The goal of my “shadow” quilting was to practice quilting from the front of the machine without having to think about what kind of design to practice.

Since I had already quilted the panto design from the back of the machine (good practice in itself!), my design was in already in place and no marking was required. Yes, I know I could think up a design, but my time is limited so I need to make the most of it and maximize practice time and materials whenever possible.

Using this method, I was able to get a feel for following the line of the design as well as the relationship of the hopping foot to the line of stitching.  I was also able to experiment with improvised quilting where desired…i.e., if I felt an area of the panto was too open, I could practice stretching out the size of my freehand quilting using the “shadow” thread in order to fill the area better.

Once I finished each pass with the “shadow” thread, I changed threads (top and bobbin) and applied the contrasting “over” quilting thread. For my highly contrasting thread, I chose a bright yellow.  See the edge of the “over quilting” in the previous pass (right side) in this picture:

Notice the edge showing "over quilting" on the previous pass on the right hand side.

Here’s a close-up:

Close-up of "over" quilting using yellow thread.

Summary: This method of quilting the panto design from the back, then shadow quilting with a darker (blending)  thread, then over quilting with a highly contrasting thread has been a fantastic learning experience for me.  In many ways it is like quilting 3 quilts on one.  This technique really is working to improve my feel for the machine and hand/eye/body/brain coordination.  I love the effect and the “pop” that the over quilting achieves when I look at the quilting overall.  To me, it has a sense of motion and the yellow makes it burst in joy. This piece is NOT a show quilt. It is a PRACTICE piece–but I’ll proudly put it on my bed and over the years I’ll fondly reflect on the lessons I’ve learned making it.

It’s been MONTHS since I’ve been quilting.  There have been so many distractions since right before the holidays 2008.   No more excuses, today is the day.

I picked my panto:  Meandering Daisy from Urban Elementz

Urban Elementz Meandering Daisy Panto

I loaded my top fabric, muslin backing & wool batting.

The longarm is locked & loaded--ready to quilt!

Full frontal view:

I selected a gorgeous Fil-Tec Glide Thread and started quilting…yahoo!

Close-up of Meandering Daisy quilting

I’ve completed 5 passes…just about 4 more to go. I haven’t had many problems with breakage or tension.  However, thanks to Ginger’s antics (50 pounds of English Bulldog slamming into me) I did need to stop and pick out a couple of times.

My favorite gadget for this is still the Superior Snippers.  This tool is fantastic for digging in to carefully isolate just the right thread to pick out and then snip–if desired–all in one smooth movement.

Stay tuned. I have plans to add some “over” quilting using at least one different thread color for increased dimension.  If all goes well I’ll have pictures of that to share with you next week.

Happy sewing & quilting!!

Nick is my eldest son and he turned 23 this month.  He is active duty in the US Coast Guard.  I haven’t made him a quilt since he was about 14, so it was time to practice my “fast” quilt method again.

I used the Dave Hudson Lighthouse 11″ panto, Glide Thread, Magna Glide Bobbins and Wide Quilt Back Fabric to make this quilt super FAST.  The top fabric (shown below) was a dark/navy blue mottled slash texture. The thread was a light turquoise/teal.

Panto review: I really liked using a Dave Hudson panto.  He includes periodic arrow marks which makes it easier for newbies to keep track of direction.  I would rate this design difficulty in the confident advanced beginner to intermediate skill level category.  Lots of straight lines, tight points, several areas where the lines pass within a 1/4″ of each other mean you need to have a bit of experience/confidence (or be ready to practice frogstitching) for success.

Here are some close-ups – click image to view larger picture in a pop-up window.