Friday, July 23, 2010

Quilting My Circle Quilt

Here's the last sewing thing I wanted to share from my vacation:
machine quilting
I finally got to try out my mom's quilting frames, all set up with a cool Juki machine and a stitch regulator. 
machine quilting with grace frame set up
I wasn't able to do what I'd envisioned for the circle parts of this quilt with my mom's machine, but I quilted all the background area. It was pretty amazing to see how fast it went and how much different it is to quilt this way compared with using a traditional machine. I had to keep reminding my brain to move the machine the way I wanted the stitches to go, not the opposite. I had some thread breakage issues which were frustrating, but overall I was happy with how it went.

This week, since we've been home from vacation, I started to feel a little anxious and scattered about all the projects I either have started or wish I had started. Amy posted about her new one thing, one week challenge, and that really got me thinking. I decided to focus on finishing up my circle quilt. 
circle quilt, quilted!
I finished up the quilting this afternoon. I got the binding made the other day and will be doing the machine part of sewing it on today. Here's a close-up of the quilting in the circle:
circle quilt closeup
I thought I was going to quilt it using the loopy flowers technique shared by Elizabeth at Oh, Fransson!, but decided to do a sort of carnation-y spiral to fill up the circles instead. I like it!

editing to add... here is the roundabout quiltalong post from A Commonplace Life that inspired this project. I needed to make smaller blocks for this baby quilt though, and here and here are my previous posts on designing the quilt and making a template for the quarter-circle block. If anyone is interested, I can also post about figuring out the yardage for this type of quilt and how to cut the segments and sew the blocks together. 

And... since I knew I wouldn't be able to quilt all the circles in one go, I gave myself a second focus project this week--charity quilt blocks.
charity quilt blocks
The KC Modern Quilt Guild is working on a bunch of baby quilts for babies at a local hospital NICU. (Actually, the one my girl stayed in after she was born.) I am going to make a whole quilt top using these fabrics, and my goal was to finish 6 of them this week. I've made 2 more since this photo was taken, so I'm taking a break from them for a while. It has been really helpful to have just two things to focus on, knowing that my other projects are all written down in a list, and hanging out in their piles, and they won't go anywhere while I'm finishing other things. I'm looking forward to finishing the binding on the circle quilt so I can mail it off to my sister-in-law and start the quilting on my next finished quilt top!

It's been a while... I'm going to link this over at sew-n-tell Fridays--go see what everyone's been making this week!


24 comments:

KaHolly said...

That's a pretty WOW job on the circle quilt!!! It really came out good. ~karen

tara said...

Your circle quilt looks like a tute I found on a blog. I am itching to make one. Looks great!

Ritapizza said...

Oooo your quilting is beautiful! I love the loopy carnation flower quilting in the circles! Absolutely gorgeous!

Delilah said...

that is so beautiful! I just love it, and the quilting is great too!

trish said...

I absolutely love your quilt and the quilting inside the circles is just precious! :o)

Michelle said...

I love your "Circle Quilt". Scrappies are my most favorite and I'm very partial to curved lines. The quilting looks great. Beautiful!

Laura said...

I just love your circle quilt! I am just beginning to trybfree motion quilting and yours looks fabulous to me! Great job!

Lesly said...

Oh how pretty your circle quilt is! And what a great job you did on the quilting! Wonderful finish - congratulations!

Caroline ~ TrilliumDesign said...

I love that circle quilt and the quilting on it is perfect. The pink/black? blocks are beautiful too

Elizabeth said...

I love the quilting in your circle quilt! Beautiful work!

xo -E

Leslie said...

oh my goodness how i wish i knew someone, anyone with a long arm i could use. you are a lucky lady. and it looks beautiful.

Paulette said...

Wow, your circle quilt is amazing. Love your quilted carnation type flowers in the center!

Andrea said...

I too have a pile of half finished projects. I need to get into the mind zone to pull them out and finish. Well done on your finishes this week. I truely admire your quilting. I tried some free motion quilting last week, found it v difficult. Have to try again. Andrea

Anonymous said...

I love how your circle quilt is quilted it is amazingly awesome! the new quilt squares are just too fun!

Larri said...

Your quilt is beautiful! I love the circles! Thanks for sharing. Happy Sewing! :o)

www.seamsinspired.com

amylouwhosews said...

Vicki! I love your fabric choices on this quilt! That design is so cool. AND I LOVE the flower quilting in the circles, so cute! What kind of machine do you have to quilt on?

Awesome work!

Nancy said...

You did a great job on the quilting. I like the design you chose for the circles. Well done!

Rose said...

I love that circle quilt...BTW, I have a juki and love it for quilting...but I have it in a table.

Eileen said...

i thought i'd been a follower of yours for a long time, but just figured out today i wasn't, so...now i am!! LOVE this quilt, vickie--your blog is one i come to often to see what cool things you're doing and your great tutorials. i've got to try one of these circle quilts--hopefully won't start until i've finished a whole bunch of others i'm doing though!! have a great day!

Eileen said...

sorry VICKI--i hate people misspelling my name! my excuses are old age!! my forgettery genes kicking in!! and several friends with several variations. i always think of you and lynnie in provo in that apt. so glad you've been friends since that time.

pinksuedeshoe said...

Love the carnation-y flowers in the center of your cirlces, so cute!

Nanette Merrill said...

Really interesting quilting. Love the project.

Natalia from Piece N Quilt said...

I love how you quilted your flowers in the circles very cute Vicki!

Sew Create It - Jane said...

Love your circle quilt...

I am working on one all in floral fabrics..in a very similar pattern...now I know how to quilt it :o)