I was curious about how to do a pillow edge finish on a quilt, so I decided to play with scraps yesterday. Binding is one of the things that I'm not good at, so a pillow edge seemed like a possible solution. It worked pretty well. I don't mind the wavy edge so much, but the spot on the lower left edge - where you can see the light blue back fabric - needs a little fixing. Hopefully I'll get better at it. I can make more quilts if I could bind them with less effort.
Next time, I may not choose black thread for the quilting. Now I know why quilters often try to match the quilting thread to the color of the fabric. If you make a mistake, it doesn't show as much. But of course, all my mistakes show. I'm not saying that's a bad thing necessarily. It gives me a good idea of what I could work on. And that's what I get for being lazy about changing thread. It would probably also help if I got a free motion foot thingy.
No name for this piece yet, but I'm thinking of naming it after a person, similar to what Andrea Balosky did in her Small Wonders quilts. That's IF I can whip it into shape. Maybe it's a Libby. That's my sister. We see each other once a year, at Christmas, and try not to fight. Maybe it reminds me of her because I tried not to fight with this quilt. I probably would've done more, but the bobbin thread ran out, and I need to psyche myself up to get it loaded. But it's fun to play with scraps.
Contrasting thread is easier to work with because you can see it. Everytime I chicken out and use matching thread, I regret it. LOL
ReplyDeleteI've never tried matching thread, but maybe I should to see what you're talking about. This quilt was a decent experiment, and I learned a couple things that should help. I can always plop a vintage stumpwork flower on it if I want to conceal some of the less pretty quilting lines. Or, I could "put a bird on it"...
Delete:)
I like how the quilting stands out with the black thread, it lends interesting texture. I did a series of scrap quilts quite a while ago, and called them my 'crumb quilts' because the scraps were so small. Its so liberating and fun, pure intuition. I look forward to seeing more!
ReplyDeleteThere is a free-motion foot for the featherweight. It works well! It just takes practice...like all things!
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I find a pillow edge is do-able for a small quilt, but I did it once on a twin-sized quilt and I definitely think binding is easier than other options once the quilt size increases. I also find slightly thicker binding (starting at maybe 2 3/4" thick strips for straight-grain, folded binding) is a bit easier to work with than skinnier strips.
ReplyDeleteSuperior Threads sells pre-wound bobbins....I tend to wind a whole whack of bobbins while I'm thinking about something I need to figure out on a project, or while I am otherwise at loose ends. I probably have 25 bobbins for my favorite machine. Much less annoying to wind them in succession.
ReplyDeleteI think the pillow slip edge is a natural for doll quilts. It's very hard to not have a binding look out of scale. I find it harder to pillow slip an edge on a big quilt, due to my lack of love for pins.
I like how bold your color choices are!