Rulers, Quilts and Stitch

I'm not new to sewing, but I'm not really a quilter. I began at my mother's knee, sewing garments and household items and that's all I did for years. Then in the early 2000's I bought a combi sewing machine and got hooked by machine embroidery. Moving on a dozen years, or so, and I began creative sewing, mixed media collage, thread painting, wet felting mixed in there, together with some beading, printing and anything else I could mess with. Then I took a few quilting workshops but didn't really find my niche. Foundation piecing didn't really click, but I'll get back to that in time. I am currently taking Philippa Naylor's online 'Quilters' Question Time' course in an attempt to improve my precision and broaden my horizons. So, I'm still learning about quilting and myself.

I've discovered that I enjoy free motion, although I lack expertise I have enthusiasm in abundance, and now that I am retired I can indulge myself as much as the household chores allow. I took a City & Guild Diploma in Creative Machine Embroidery, that I completed about three years ago. During the course, I began to teach myself to digitise, which I have fun with, learned stumpwork, dyed fabric, did some screen printing and found that I like just playing around with colour and stitch. Previously, I'd considered myself a person that always needed a clear goal and a route to get there, but I was wrong. Or, maybe I've changed as I've grown older.

Below is a truly dreadful photo of a quilt I made during the diploma course. I took a photo in a friend's garden of The President clematis,  enlarged it and created the petals and leaves one a time using a photocopier, thread painted and beaded and generally had some fun with it. The photo doesn't show the detail, especially in the centre, which has 'shaggy' textured stitching and beads. I discovered this today, folded and lurking behind an ottoman. It has a hanging sleeve, but I've never hung it. Every time I look at it I think of how I could have improved it. I particularly dislike the yellow part. This is the type of project I enjoy and I hope to do more in the future, once I've improved my quilting skills.

I have invested in quite a few quilting rulers and presser feet, but have now hit upon a combination I'm happy with. I love Amanda Murphy's Good Measure rulers and the #72 foot on my Bernina 790+ is excellent. I have recently begun a collection of Amanda's rulers, which I will add to as the bank balance allows. Apparently, there will be some new ones released following Bernina University in a couple of weeks' time. I've been following Amanda Murphy's 'Thankful Thursdays' videos for a few weeks and am slowly getting the idea. I am currently practising with my new set of Oval rulers on a Celestial Lights panel printed for that very reason. I have my 790+ dropped down into a Horn table to give me the flat surface that I need for ruler quilting, but find that the head of the machine obscures my view when the ruler and design extend behind the needle. I need a flat surface, the curved extension table does not provide a sufficient flat area for the rulers. I have a Sew Steady table on order, but it will be some weeks yet before it is delivered due to the Covid-19 pandemic. So, for now, I have to manage with what I have, while I dream of a Bernina Q20 or even a Q24 with Q-Matic. Dreams cost nothing, while longarms cost a fortune!

I am currently piecing a crazy quilt, using scrap fabric. So far I have 15 12" blocks pieced and plan another five before I put them together. It's not going to be a work of art, but I like to combine ruler work with free motion and this will provide me with lots of practise area. It will have cost very little and I can then donate it to my cats; they absolutely adore quilts and are not likely to complain about any quilting mishaps.

The next quilt in line is The Carpenter's Wife, for which I have the pattern and fabric ready, although not yet cut.

I also have a curved piecing lesson to get cut and sewn before the 21st of August.  So my goals for August are:

 1) Complete the crazy quilt top

 2) Sandwich said crazy quilt 

 3) Get the Curved piecing lesson done

 4) Cut the fabric for The Carpenter's Wife

The list isn't too onerous, in the hope that I won't be daunted and put off by a long, scary list.

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