Many months ago (ahem, May 2015) I pattern tested the Modern Flag quilt but only completed the top. I planned to finish it off promptly, but I got distracted by other projects and the top sat…until I needed something to use for my first official attempt at longarm quilting! I mentioned in that old blog post that I thought horizontal wavy lines across the whole quilt top would look neat — and that’s basically what I did, with some back-and-forth thrown in to evoke wind and to help me get used to the feel of the longarm.
Once I got the quilt loaded onto the machine, it took a bit under 2 hours for me to do all the quilting. I have no idea if that’s fast or slow, but it seemed reasonable enough!
At the suggestion of the shop owner Lana, I used a very pale pink thread and it worked great, blending into all the fabrics perfectly, even the blues of the stars. The backing is wideback from Michael Miller’s Luxe collection. I’ve used several of these now and I really like how soft and smooth they feel — almost like a bedsheet.
I really enjoyed my first longarm experience and was very happy with the result. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this quilt, but at minimum I can pull it out every summer for Independence Day! Now the big question is what to longarm next?? I’m not quite ready to commit my Gypsy Wife top to my own inexperienced hands, so perhaps a couple other simple quilt tops are in order as practice pieces…
Congratulations on the finish! I’d say 2 hours is a great time for your first quilt on a longarm. My time varies so much depending on the density and complexity of the design I choose. And then there is only so long I’m willing to stand at my longarm at any one time and then for any one day.
Yeah, I can definitely see how anything more than a few hours would get tiring! It went quicker than I expected for this one, but I did pick a pretty easy (and not very dense) motif. Anything that was either more dense or more tailored to the structure of the top itself (vs an all-over design like this) would certainly increase the difficulty and time required!
I really don’t know how to comment on the quality of the long arm. But I am surprised at how pretty the colors turned out — I would have never put those colors together but its really striking. But I guess this is why you have an eye for design and I don’t. Independence days are for picnics, you can lounge on it while waiting for fireworks…
Yeah, I thought the colors looked neat too! My goal was to stick close to the “expected” colors but not exact, so the teals and corals are a fun take.
Nice UFO finish! Perfect quilting for it. I’ll have to try some of that Luxe.
Great job!!! This has always been one of my favorite quilts, of yours. Maybe it is because Independence Day is my favorite holiday, but it is also because the colors play so well together. If you ever want to sell it, let me know
That is awesome. And I think 2 hours seems quite efficient. It takes me much longer than that to quilt a quilt that size with moderate density (I think). And it looks great. Glad you finally tried free motion! And giving your perfectionist streak, I can see why long-arm is a good fit for you.