I’ve made great progress on my Intertwined mini quilt in the last week. The smallest squares were 1.5″ (finishing at 1″) but despite the small size, I managed to keep things pretty accurate and the overall design looks good.
I’d never tried spiral quilting before, but the new year seemed as good a time as any to give it a go. I watched a few YouTube videos to understand the technique, practiced twice on some scraps, took a deep breath and dove in. It took a couple tries (and associated ripping out quilting lines) to get the center to my liking, and then a few more stop/rip/restart sessions as I wound my way outward. Fortunately I was able to stay pretty patient with the process, and I’m very happy with the outcome. A bit of binding and this one will be ready to hang on my wall!
The biggest reason for my spiral quilting issues is that my walking foot doesn’t have a slot for a guide bar, so I had to eyeball the spacing between each spiral. This meant that things could get out of control quickly if I wasn’t careful! I definitely need a guidebar in the future, and I think I found a Janome walking foot with guide that will fit my Juki machine. It’s pricey at $60 so I haven’t clicked the “buy” button yet but it’s on my wish list.
And in other news, I’m plugging away at Charlotte’s Christmas stocking — my UFO item for January. Stitching white thread onto white fabric is mind-numbing, which is why I put it off to the end! But it’s necessary to make the design look its best.
Great progress on the Intertwined mini – the piecing looks very crisp! And I know what you mean about white on white stitching. Both projects look to be coming along really well. 🙂
Your Intertwined mini looks terrific.
These are both great projects, Sarah. The first looks very fresh and modern, while the second is a classic tradition in the making. Hope you all are enjoying the weekend. From a fellow Texan, Ardith