Not So Little Project #2 Done

To the left here is a little water-colored muslin test piece I batted and backed to use for my first attempt at free-motion quilting, so I could see if I could manage it for Not So Little Project #2.

To quilt in free motion you have to drop the feed dogs on your sewing machine, and move the fabric manually. I did that for about 5 minutes before my wrists said "Okay, we're done with this." I finished the rest by spinning the piece with the feed dogs up.

Frankly I suck at machine quilting, but I really stink at free-motion machine quilting. It looks so easy in all those videos, but the reality is you have to manipulate three layers of fabric and batting with only the pressure of your hands and wrists. Mine are simply not up to the task.

Also, moving a quilt as you're sewing and keeping the stitches even and a uniform length should be an Olympic sport. God, I had no idea it was that hard to do. When I think of all the dense free-motion quilted pieces I've seen at shows now it blows my mind. How the heck do they do that kind of work?

Honestly, I'm going to take back everything bad I've ever said about machine quilters. I bow to you, oh Hercules-wristed makers.

Anyway, as you can see I machine-quilted the bargello practice quilt, aka Not So Little Project #2, with my walking foot in straight grid lines, which is all I really know how to do. I finished it much faster (took me a week versus a month or two by hand for this size quilt.) The results aren't horrible, but eh. I need a lot more practice if I'm going to quilt all my work in the future on the machine, which is where I'm heading with the arthritis invading my neck and continuing to erode my hands.

Here's the back, where you can see my quilting lines get a bit wonky (helpful hint on machine quilting: do not use your patchwork as a quilting guide if your seams are off like mine):

I suppose I could invest in a long-arm sewing machine, but they're hugely expensive -- a used floor model will run $5K -- and big. I'd need a whole room to set it up properly. They also seem to be very complicated to operate, and if you use the wrong thread or needle they tend to go wonky. I follow another quilter on Tumblr who bought her first long-arm last year. While she's a pro she's been having all kinds of problems with it. I can't justify the expense when I quilt only for myself and to make gifts.

Then there's my personal preference, which keeps nagging at the back of my mind. I simply don't like the way machine-quilted pieces look compared to hand-quilted pieces. I know, it's a little ridiculous, but there you go. I think I'd rather keep hand-quilting for as long as I can and just limit the number of projects I do every year. I'll make less, and go slower, but I'll be happier with the final results.

I think I have just enough time to do one more little project by hand before Christmas. If all goes well, I'll make these log cabin blocks I bought from Jen at KnJ Studio into a car seat quilt for Oliver: