Saturday, March 24, 2012

What is done? What is not done?

Not done- My paper.  BUT once I finish this blog post, I have gotten ALL distractions out of the way (except maybe dinner.)  Seriously. I have to stop procrastinating...

What is done- tracing the wholecloth with thread.   This took me a little under an hour and a half.  It went better than I expected.  I was worried because I've been having a lot of trouble travel stitching on the quilt I'm doing. I'm now blaming a) the heft of the twin size quilt or b) the weight of the cotton thread.   Travel over the Isacord was a breeze (as was moving the tiny quilt sandwich).  The other nice thing about Isacord is that as long as you are pretty close with the travel, it looks nice.  It is thin thread, so even if it is side by side instead of right on top, there isn't too much build up.
Beautiful Backside
So there are a few mistakes- where I wobbled off the path, where I took an absurd route that required too much back tracking, where my chalk lines were off, thus forming a strange shape, or where my line wasn't completely straight- but for the most part, I'm pretty happy with it.

In other news: marking with chalk is MESSY.  My foot kept filling up with chalk dust.

I'm quite worried about the next step: micro-stippling.  Teeny tiny stitches are not my forte.  My hands move too fast, and I feel out of control if I make the needle move super fast.  I'm not sure if I'll keep the top the top or not.  If I flip it over, it will be easy to see the lines I need to fill in,but I worry about getting chalk into my machine.  If I don't flip it over, it is hard to see the lines I need to fill in.

Chalky front side.
I wish I could wash it- but I think there is no way to do this at this point.  It would remove the starch, and who knows what other mysterious shifting/extra shrinking might occur?  So I'm not sure.  I think fear of dusting up the machine is going to win over not being able to see.

11 comments:

Jacquelin said...

Muy bonito.

Anonymous said...

That is absolutely beautiful. Love the design. I am curious to find out what micro-stippling is, and what it will look like! The quilt looks perfect as-is right now!

M

Kristen said...

That is a beautiful design. I love it.

Candy said...

Very pretty! I'm a little concerned with the micro-stippling, too. It looks like there's not a whole lot of room in some areas to stitch. Should be an adventure!

MC said...

Your outline looks really good! I know what you mean about wishing you could wash it at this point.

Patti said...

Your quilting looks great in spite of the chalk! Micro-stippling has me shaking in my boots too!

AnitaS said...

It looks very good. I am afraid of the micro stippling too.

Danih03 said...

It looks great! Yes the chalk is a little messy. just try wiping it off with your FMQ glove on, or maybe take a damp washcloth. Or maybe just hold it up in one hand, and beat on it with the other(outside of course) ! When I stitched mine, most of the chalk rubbed off. Check out my post.

Anne said...

I know what you mean about chalk - I've used it a couple of times recently and was horrified to see all that dust gathering around the foot of my lovely new machine. Your quilting looks great.

Candy said...

This looks great! I'll admit the micro-stippling is giving me sweaty palms!

Doreen said...

Your quilt looks great. At first the micro stippling had me not liking it, but as I continued it got a ton better. Maybe daniho3 has some good advice in this instance. I am sure you will do well! Hugs, Doreen