A Little Goofy, But Not A Show-Off!

I'll admit I'm a little goofy, but I'm not a "Show-off"...

Here I was being goofy with Orlando Bloom:
Here I was being goofy at a quilt show. I believe that if I crop half my body in a picture, it takes 50 lbs off!

Here is a picture from the olden days, when I was a goofy cheerleader:

And here is the back of a quilt I did for Road to California. Ok, here maybe I was being a show-off!

For the most part, I believe my machine quilting should enhance a quilt, not over-take it. For the most part, I don't think a machine quilter should be a show-off. For example, look at this pretty quilt.

The piecer put a lot of time and effort into this quilt. I love the contrasting colors in these beautiful batik designs.

So I quilted a simple freehand design and changed threads throughout to match and enhance the fabrics.

That way my machine quilting didn't over-take the quilt, just enhanced it.

And the graphic layout of the quilt was not lost. The machine quilter wasn't a show-off, you see.

And in the back, I picked subtle colors there too, so it didn't detract from the beautiful fabric.

You see...same freehand design throughout, just different threads to match. Hey, wait a minute, who's that sleeping on the job???

Why, it's the Purse Dog of course, sunbathing in my quilt studio!

She's back from a week at the dog kennel. I'm sure she didn't get any sunbathing time there! And I'm back from a week in Oregon for Easter visiting my parents....and back from about 3 weeks of being sick! I'm feel so much better now!

Tons of quilts to do...

Get back to work, Vivian!

As It Happens...Part Two

Continuing with the Heather Bailey quilt....

Let me explain what I do: I do freemotion or freehand quilting.

All freehand, all the time.

Freemotion quilting means I guide my longarm quilting machine by hand. As you can see in the picture below my hand is holding one of the handle bars and I am guiding the machine along however I want. I've been doing this for about 8 years now and I still love it. I look forward to working on each and every quilt. I get up in the morning and say, "I can't wait to get to work." When I had my accounting job, I don't think I ever said that!

In a sense I am drawing on the quilt. My kids used to say I graffitti'd on the quilt!

This is really the only tool I use. It's a little ruler I use to guide the machine along when I need to make a straight line. You'd think straight lines would be easy, like they are on the domestic home sewing machine. But with a longarm quilting machine, they are not so easy. So I use a guide. I like Megan's Best ruler to do straight lines and 'stitch in the ditch' (meaning stitching directly in the seam.) Each longarm quilter uses whatever ruler works best for them. About 3 years ago I took classes in Dallas, Texas with Linda V. Taylor. She asked us to bring our favorite 'stitch in the ditch' tool. There were six of us, and six different stitch in the ditch tools! In the picture below you can sort of see what I did in Heather's beautiful borders. Lots of times I just let the fabric print inspire me. And that's what was going on here.You can see below what I did in the petals of the flowers here. I did some "faux McTavishing" in the off-white areas of the print and then enhanced Heather's leaves and flowers. I say "faux McTavishing" because it's kind of my own version of the beautiful, contemporary stipling made famous by quilter, Karen McTavish. I call it "Vivian Love is-just-wingin'-it-McTavishing-technique."
Here I'm just working away...
Sometimes it gets a little difficult to see my quilting and so I depend on shadows. I have this little light attached to my machine and I turn it on now and then to see better. It creates shadows for me. In the picture below you can see my "faux McTavishing" better with the shadows. Can you see how I simply enhanced the beautiful print of Heather's fabric?
What kind of machine do I use? It's a good 'ol Gammill Classic, circa 2000. There's not a stitch regulator on it or a computer. The year 2000 was not that long ago, but the Gammill's are much more modern and high-tech now. I love the feel of my machine and so I've never traded up or altered it in anyway. It's just about an antique!

On the back you can see below, it says "Kitty AKA T-Bird." What does that mean? I named my machine years ago, "Kitty," because it "purrs like a kitten." My old friend Jerry, former owner of Cranberry Quiltworks, renamed it "T-Bird." That's what he used to call me: "Talking Bird." He said I talked to much. Can you believe it? :-)

And the thread I used? Perma Core. I use it because it's the thread my machine likes the best. And whatever "Kitty" wants, "Kitty" gets! Also I love it because there are tons of colors available. (for variegated, my machine loves Superior's Lava and King Tut.) Gina Halladay at Cranberry Quiltworks carries most all the colors. These are the colors I used on Heather's quilt.Tomorrow, Part Three...pictures of the finished quilt. Thanks for stopping by!