TGIFF, Good Friday Edition!

First of all, if you're a newcomer to Cheeky Cognoscenti via the Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF) linky party, WELCOME!  I'm so glad you're here!  I rarely -- VERY rarely -- am able to link up with TGIFF because my finishes are so few and far between, but it's one of my favorite linky parties nevertheless.  I just love seeing everyone else's brand new, beautiful finishes every week!  It's so inspiring!

Okay, so here's my most recent finished quilt to share with you:

"Math Is Beautiful," 51" x 51", Teacher Gift Based On My Son's Design

 I saw this doodle in my son's math notebook and immediately thought "QUILT!"  I used my EQ Electric Quilt design software to create a quilt design based on the drawing, found the perfect black fabric that had actual math printed on it -- like what SHOULD have been in Lars's notebook -- and paired it with some bright and cheerful girly Kaffe Fassett prints that reminded me of his teacher.  

My Son Holding Up the Quilt He Designed While Doodling In Math Class

This quilt is the first real quilt (other than practice muslin) that I completed on my new APQS Millennium longarm machine, and it was my first shot at pantograph quilting.  But I have a confession -- I completed this quilt back in JANUARY.  You can read more about it here.  

After finishing Math Is Beautiful, I discovered Tula Pink's Tabby Mountain quilt pattern showcasing her Tabby Road fabric collection for Free Spirit Fabrics, and I thought it would be a great "quick and easy" project to whip up for more quilting practice on my longarm machine.  Ah, but NOTHING I do is every quick OR easy!

Completed Tabby Mountain Quilt Top On My Design Wall

I finished piecing Tabby Mountain on March 4th, and I was really pushing myself to get it finished so I could show it off for today's TGIFF.  I mean, the photo below was taken last night at 3 AM when I was so tired that I didn't feel safe to operate machinery anymore and had to go to bed!  The path to hell is paved with good intentions just like mine...

I Finished the Ruler Work Quilting On This Row!  Does That Count?

Because I'm a new long arm owner and this is just my second quilt with this machine -- and my very first try at custom quilting with rulers -- everything has a huge learning curve, even simple things like winding bobbins and loading the quilt on the frame required checking the owner's manual and seeking out online tutorial videos.  We had scheduled a tour for my son (the one who doodles in math class) at Davidson College today and then I had Maundy Thursday worship service tonight with choir warmups ahead of time, so when I finally turned off the lights in my studio and went to bed on Wednesday night Thursday morning, I knew I was admitting defeat.  My time was up, it was over, and I had failed. I was exhausted, disappointed that my quilt isn't done yet, topped off with a dollop of guilt/shame/embarrassment that I committed to hosting this linky celebrating finishes and was not able to cross my own finish line in time to share it with you. I felt like I was letting everyone down.

Late Night Quilting Tools: Purple Marking Pen, Rulers, TOWA Bobbin Gauge, Scented Candle, Red Wine

And then I got to church today and spent a couple of hours reflecting on the Last Supper in Maundy Thursday worship and rehearsing the music for Good Friday -- and for Easter Sunday as well.  And it hit me -- Good Friday was the PERFECT day for me to host with my Failed Finish!  According to the Gospel of John, Jesus' last words were "it is finished," but that Good Friday wasn't a happy-feel-good kind of finish.  I'll bet his disciples were feeling grief, disappointment that the Messiah didn't come to overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom on Earth, guilt and shame for betraying and denying him and for falling asleep when they asked him to sit up with him while he prayed...  Maybe they felt foolish for throwing their lives and careers away to follow this man they thought was the Messiah, and on Good Friday they may have been doubting themselves and thinking this discipleship thing they committed themselves to might have been a huge mistake.

-- BUT-- even though Christ's last words were "it is finished," the story does not end with death on a cross.  The trumpets and hallelujahs are coming on Easter Sunday; we just have to be patient and wait three more days.  And you know what?  My Tabby Mountain quilt is coming along really nicely and I'm learning SO much.  I just need a little more time with it.  Maybe not three whole days, but at least one more day!  I'm publishing this post at the stroke of midnight EST on Thursday evening/Friday morning, and I know I'll have several hours of quilting time during the day tomorrow  today as well as some time on Saturday afternoon if I need it.  I'm definitely going to be finished with this quilt soon, perhaps in time for Easter, and I'll update this blog post again later today to show my additional progress.  In MY time zone, I still have 24 hours left in order to qualify for "finished by Friday!"

2 PM EST Update: Two More Rows of Solid Triangles Quilted!

I Am SO PROUD of the SID Between the Green and Yellow Fabrics!

I am learning SO MUCH with this quilt.  I can already tell that I'm getting much better at controlling the ruler so nothing slides and the presser foot doesn't stray from the edge I'm trying to follow.  Marking those long, straight diagonal lines is a huge help, definitely worth the extra time it's taking, and I am seeing significant improvement in my SID (stitching in the ditch) since I started at the top of the quilt, too.

You know, singing in several different choirs at multiple church services and shuttling my kids back and forth to their youth events definitely eats up a lot of my time every week, but it feeds my soul, reminds me again and again of what really matters versus what is trivial, and I walk out of worship feeling restored, renewed, forgiven and redeemed -- and ready to take on the world!  To all of you who are celebrating Easter with me this weekend, to those of you who will be celebrating Passover seder this Saturday, and to those of other faiths whose holidays fall on other dates, may we all feel the power of God's love, mercy, and redemption in our lives not just on holy days, but for all of our days (especially the days of disappointment, failure and despair).

And now, without further ado, it's YOUR turn!  What have YOU finished -- or partially finished -- this week?  Link up your fabulous finishes here (be sure to use the direct URL of your post) and don't forget to visit and comment on the other finishes, because the comment love is what makes this a party! Please include a text link in your post and/or a button for TGIFF so your visitors can come back here to discover other people's finishes as well.

I'm also linking up with Finished Or Not Friday and with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop.

First Quilt Finish of 2018: "Math Is Beautiful"

It's time for the Big Reveal, y'all!  This is my first quilt finish of 2018, my first pantograph quilt, and the first real quilt that I've quilted on my APQS Millennium longarm quilting machine.  Behold, "Math Is Beautiful":

"Math Is Beautiful," 51 x 51, Designed by Lars

This quilt has been in the works since June of 2015, when I was going through my sons' notebooks to save unused filler paper for the following school year and discovered this design in Lars's 8th grade math notebook:

Lars's Design Inspiration

And I was like, "Dude, you designed a QUILT!"  I had recently purchased EQ7 quilting design software, so I used that program to play around with different fabric possibilities for a throw sized quilt that was going to be "quick and easy."  Then I fell madly in love with a discontinued, out of stock Kaffe Fassett floral print that I used in my virtual design and had to hunt it down online from eBay or etsy or something like that.  

Early Version of Math Quilt Design

When I found the black and white math printed fabric, I knew it was perfect for this quilt that derived from my son's daydreaming and doodling during class, and I decided to make the quilt as a gift for his teacher, Jen Thomas.  It's even the right kind of math -- Algebra!

What  Lars SHOULD Have Been Writing In His Notebook!

This isn't just any teacher, either -- Ms, Thomas taught Lars Math I in 7th grade when he was at the Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy charter school, and then she moved to Community House Middle School the same year we did, so she taught him Math II again in 8th grade.  Then last year she had my younger son, Anders, for Math II as an 8th grader.  Both of my kids are, um, HIGHER MAINTENANCE than your average student, and this teacher has been an amazing advocate for both of them.  What's more, once he got to high school and his freshman Math III class seemed easy, Lars realized that Ms. Thomas taught him well beyond the Math II curriculum so that the next year's math class was a breeze, and my son told me that he wanted to go back and thank Ms. Thomas.  So I'm going to try to bring him with me when I deliver this quilt.

The Vital Statistics:

This quilt finished at approximately 51" x 51" after washing.  It was quilted using Glide trilobal polyester thread in Cool Grey7 top and bottom, using the Popcorn LG pantograph pattern from Willow Leaf Studio.  The batting is black Quilter's Dream Poly.

My Quilting Looks Even Better After Washing

Happily, the slight shrinkage and crinkling that happened when I washed the quilt was just enough to smooth out and hide the wobblies of my beginner pantograph quilting, just as I'd hoped it would.  I like the way this pantograph design mimics the swirlies on the blue and fuschia fabric at the center of the quilt.

I kind of fell out of love with this quilt and lost interest in it for a long time while it was hanging on my design wall.  I felt like it was too busy AND too boring, but it was the perfect candidate for my first attempt at pantograph quilting.  Now that's it's finished, it's grown on me and I really like the finished quilt.  It's the black and white striped border that does it for me, tying in with the black and white math fabric and balancing those bold and colorful Kaffe Fassett print fabrics. It gives me kind of a MacKenzie-Childs vibe now.  

I Love My Stripey Binding!

The binding fabric was pure serendipity.  I didn't buy it specifically for this quilt, but I had a half yard of it in my stash and as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect.  

More Stripey Binding Goodness!

The back of this quilt looks really good, too, which is of huge importance to me.  No matter how carefully I pin basted my projects before quilting them on my domestic Berninas, I ALWAYS ended up with a couple of pleats or puckers on the back side of my quilts.  Not only was it faster and more comfortable for me to quilt this standing up with a longarm machine, but those backing problems have been completely eliminated.  And my tension was consistent throughout the quilting process, giving me stitches that look beautiful on both sides of the quilt from start to finish.  I'm really pleased with my APQS Millenium machine.  I can't wait to get another quilt top loaded on my frame!

Look, Ma!  No Pleats, Tucks or Puckers!

I am really looking forward to delivering this quilt to the teacher, along with that original doodle from Lars's math notebook!  Here's one last look before I tuck the quilt into the gift bag:

Math Is Beautiful, 51 x 51

And now, what's next for this happy quilter?  

1. The "Draw Me A Story" backing fabric needs to be pieced, pressed, starched, and set aside
2. I need to cut out some reverse applique patches for my "Frankenwhiggish Rose" hand stitching project
3. I'll start piecing the "Tabby Mountain" quilt
4. Yes, Colleen -- it's time for me to make another pineapple log cabin block, too!  :-)

Today I'm linking up with:

• Needle and Thread Thursday at http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/ 
• Finish It Up Friday at www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com
• Whoop Whoop Fridays at www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com
• Finished Or Not Friday at http://busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com/
• Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday, hosted this week by mmm! Quilts: http://www.mmmquilts.com/2018/01/flow-friday-finish.html

Tutorial: A Reverie On Quilt Binding, With Reminders and Resolutions For Next Time

On those rare occasions when I have a quilt nearing completion, I always have to consult my quilting books and/or notes from my old blog posts to jog my memory as to how to do the binding.  I wasn't able to find a previous blog post documenting my binding process, and that's why I'm writing this one today -- for my own future reference.  If you know of other binding tips, tricks or tutorials, please share them with me in the comments!

Cut Width of Binding Strips Determines Seam Allowance

I generally remember that I like to cut my binding on the cross grain (although I'd cut it on the bias if my quilt had scalloped edges), but I can never remember how wide to cut the strips or how much binding I need to make.  For a finished quarter inch binding, my books recommend cutting your strips anywhere from 1 7/8" to 2 1/4" wide.  When I bound my last quilt I used a 2 1/4" cut width and made a note to myself to cut my strips 2 1/8" this time, but when I cut them 2 1/8" I decided I would rather have cut them 2 1/4" so I could use my seam guide with my walking foot to sew the binding to the front of the quilt.  So, what I would like to remind myself for next time is that it doesn't matter how wide I cut the strips as long as I check and adjust my seam allowance when I'm machine stitching the binding to the quilt. 

For my "Math Is Beautiful" quilt, I cut my binding strips 2 1/8" wide and started stitching them to the front of my quilt with my walking foot, using the little 1/4" mark on the inside of the walking foot toe as my guide.  After sewing about 6", I removed the quilt from the machine and wrapped the binding around to the wrong side of the quilt to check the seam allowance.  The binding completely covered the machine stitches on the back of the quilt, but in order to wrap it snugly around the edge of the quilt, the binding came down too far -- it would be noticeably wider finished width binding on the back of the quilt than on the front.  

With a 2 1/8 inch Cut Width, This Seam Allowance Was Too Narrow

Then I tried stitching the same 6" of binding using the outside edge of my walking foot as a guide, but then the seam allowance was too wide -- when I wrapped the folded edge of the binding around to the back of the quilt, there wasn't enough fabric to cover the machine stitches.  I ended up moving my needle position two clicks to the left and using the inside of the walking foot toe as my guide.  That resulted in a binding that just barely covers the machine stitches when pulled snugly to the back of the quilt, a binding that looks the same width on the front and back side of the quilt.  

If I was going to finish the binding by machine rather than by hand, I would want the binding to be slightly wider on the back side to ensure that, when I stitched in the ditch next to the binding on the front of the quilt, the binding on the back of the quilt was caught in the ditch stitching.  

Obviously, batting thickness will impact how wide binding strips and binding seam allowances need to be to wrap around the edge of the quilt and line up nicely, front to back, so this is my reminder to myself that I need to test the seam width and make adjustments before sewing my binding all the way around the perimeter of my quilt!

So, now that I know I'm going to cut my binding strips 2 1/4" wide, how do I know how many strips I need to cut?  Measure the perimeter of the quilt, add 12" working allowance, and divide by 42" fabric width.  Round up to the nearest whole number and that's how many strips I need to cut.  So for the math quilt that finished at 51 3/4" x 51 3/4" after quilting, the perimeter was 207" + 12" working allowance = 219" of binding needed, divided by the 42" usable fabric width = 5.21, rounded up to the nearest whole number gives me 6 strips to cut from my binding fabric.

I join my binding strips at 45 degree angles to reduce the bulk of the seam allowance, and I used to have a terrible time getting that 45 degree seam just right so my binding strips would be straight without a little offset where the seams joined one strip to the next.  I would routinely sew strips the wrong direction, or with the seam allowance on the wrong side, and have to waste time with my seam ripper before I got it right.  With my class sample quilt, I did a little prep work before sewing the seams to ensure that my striped pattern would be matched and that resulted in perfectly aligned, straight binding and no seam ripping, so I'm going to do all of my binding this way from now on regardless of whether there is a pattern to match.

I fold and press a 45 degree angle in the end of one binding strip and then lay that over the opposite end of another binding strip, matching the pattern from the RIGHT side:

Match the Stripes and Glue the Top Folded Strip to the Bottom Flat Strip

Then I swipe my fabric glue stick lightly along the seam allowance of my folded strip, right up next to the fold, and stick it in place to hold the matched pattern in place.

Seam Line Needs To Be Just to the RIGHT of the Fold

Next, open the folded strip so it's at a 90 degree angle to the flat strip.  In order for the strips to be lined up perfectly with matched stripes after sewing, the seamline needs to be just to the RIGHT of that fold line.  I won't be able to see the fold line at the sewing machine because of the bright LED lights, so I draw a line with a mechanical chalk pencil right next to the fold line:

Chalk Line Right Next To the Fold Line

I use 3 pins to ensure nothing slips out of place when I'm matching stripes.  With a solid color binding, I would probably use just two pins, or maybe not pin at all, depending on how reckless I'm feeling.

Sew Along the Chalk Line

...And then I just sew along the chalk line, with a stitch length of 2.0, the same as I use for piecing.

...Like So

When I do it this way, the pattern is perfectly matched at the diagonal seam line and the raw edges of the two strips meet up perfectly every time.  No more seam ripping!

Check the Pattern Match Before Trimming

I open up the seam to check that everything matched up correctly before trimming the excess seam allowance.  Success!  

Trim Seam Allowance to a Quarter Inch

...Like So

I want to press my binding seams open to minimize bulk, so I gently pull apart the glued seam allowances so I can press them open.  You want to use just enough glue to hold the pattern match in place for stitching, but not so much glue that you can't pull the seam allowances apart afterwards!

Seam Pressed Open

I use an old dish towel as a pressing cloth to save myself the fun of cleaning glue off my iron.  And then I just trim those little dog ears off with a straight edge ruler.

Trimming the Dog Ears

The next step is to fold and press the binding in half lengthwise WST (wrong sides together), being careful to keep the stripes straight, and then the binding is ready to be sewn to the front of the quilt.

I rediscovered a little binding tool while rooting around in the drawers of the cutting table.  It's amazing, all the cool gadgets I've got squirreled away in here!  I don't think I've ever used this tool before; someone must have recommended it to me and then I forgot about it.  There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube explaining how to use this tool, such as this one from Missouri Star Quilt Co.:

Anyway, to use this tool successfully, it's imperative that you start sewing the binding onto the quilt with a 10" loose end, and that you stop sewing when you are exactly 12" away from your starting point, leaving another 10" tail on that end.  No eyeballing; you have to mark that 12" before you start sewing.

Attaching Binding With Walking Foot

I generally use my walking foot to sew my binding, but I could probably get away with using my #97D quarter inch patchwork foot with Dual Feed engaged instead.  I'm sewing my binding on with the Aurifil 50/2 cotton thread that is my favorite for piecing, but I'm using a longer stitch length now of 2.5.  Now, when I wrap the folded edge of the binding around to the back of the quilt and pull it snug, it just covers the machine stitches, exactly how I wanted it.

Folded Edge Just Barely Covers Machine Stitches

One other point I'd like to remind myself of for next time -- be careful not to fold in too much binding fabric when mitering the corners!  I think I was deliberately generous with my folds, thinking that would give me more fabric to work with when forming the miter on the back side of the quilt, but what it really does is put too much fabric bulk in the corner itself.  That makes it MORE difficult to miter and finish the corner from the back side, and results in a slightly dog eared corner rather than a true right angle.  I think I'd like to practice that on a scrap sandwich prior to doing it on my next quilt.

See How That Corner Is Just Slightly Too Pointy?

Oh, and I also forget how long it takes me to hand stitch the folded fabric edge to the back side of a quilt.  This quilt finished at about 50" x 50", and it took me over SIX HOURS to hand stitch the binding while binging through eight episodes of Victoria on Amazon Prime.  It took me longer to hand stitch the binding than it took me to do the quilting!  I've never done a completely machine stitched binding on a quilt before, but I may need to learn how to do it that way in the future for these "quick and easy" quilt tops that just need to get done so I can move on to quilting the next one.  Good grief -- I could have paper pieced another pineapple log cabin block in six hours, or pieced the entire Tabby Mountain quilt top in six hours!

If anyone knows of a really good tutorial for accurately stitching quilt binding completely by machine, please let me know in the comments.  Thank you!

Today I'm linking up with:

• ·       Let’s Bee Social at www.sewfreshquilts.blogspot.ca/
• ·       Midweek Makers at www.quiltfabrication.com/
• ·       WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com
• ·       WIPs With Friends at www.mamaspark.blogspot.com

A Slice of Elation, Topped With a Dollop of Misery: Design Wall Monday, With Machine Embroidery

Good morning!  I'm so close to finishing this quilt that I can almost TASTE it, which is the elation part of this post.  The misery part is that I am really, really sick and my throat feels like I swallowed broken glass or gargled with razor blades or something.  It hurts so much that it's making my eyes tear.  I don't know if it's the flu, strep, or what, but I'm going to the doctor at 10:30 to find out and hopefully get some kind of magic make-it-go-away medicine.  

Machine Embroidered Label Appliqued to Quilt Backing

But meanwhile, I got my math quilt labeled and ready for binding!  My favorite way to use machine embroidery is to personalize quilts, either with embroidered monograms, quotes, or just a label like the one for this quilt.

Designing the Label in Bernina Embroidery Software

This label took me only a few minutes to design and digitize in my Bernina Designer Plus embroidery software.  It's as easy as typing into a text box, picking one of the True Type fonts from the drop down menu, and resizing the block of text to fit into the hoop I want to use.  Save to USB drive, plug USB drive into Bernina 750QEE sewing machine, attach embroidery module, and press GO.  Yes, there are lettering stitches built into my sewing machine, but I use my embroidery software instead so that I can lay out all the text the way I want it and stitch it out with perfect spacing as a single embroidery design.  If you use the built-in lettering stitches to sew out a lot of text, you need to carefully mark every row of stitching and it's easy to mess up the alignment.  Plus I have many, many more lettering fonts to choose from in my embroidery software.

Label and Binding Fabrics Selected From My Stash

I am able to print out an actual size template of the label design from my software that I can use to check that it's going to be legible and look the way I want it to look.  I was able to find the perfect solid orchid fabric for the label and a black and white striped binding fabric in my stash, which was great.

Stitching Out the Label Design

I starched my label fabric twice on each side of the fabric, then sprayed it with 505 temporary spray adhesive and affixed it to a layer of tearaway embroidery stabilizer before hooping it.  I also floated an additional layer of tearaway stabilizer beneath my hoop and reduced my top tension to prevent bobbin thread from showing at the edges of my satin stitches.  It took about 20 minutes for my machine to stitch out the design, and then it took me another 30 minutes or so to carefully remove all of the excess stabilizer from the back of the label, using a tweezers to remove the bits of stabilizer that were trapped between rows of stitching.  I don't want my label to be bulky, stiff, or scratchy; I want it to be just as soft and snuggly as the rest of the quilt.

Tabby Mountain, Final Layout With Replacement Fabrics

Meanwhile, my replacement fabrics came for the Tabby Mountain quilt so I could swap out those Cat Eyes prints that I wasn't fond of.  And again, it's not that I don't like the Cat Eyes print at all -- I just didn't like it for these giant triangles.  It would be cute cut up into smaller patches for another project, and it would be cute binding fabric.  I replaced them in my quilt with three Kaffe Fassett Collective prints instead, and I like it much better now.  I have someone special in mind for this quilt and it "fits" her better with the fabric substitutions I made.

Original Layout With Busy Eyeball Fabrics

The scale of the Cat Eyes print was just too small for the big triangles, and the print didn't read well at a distance.  It looked muddy to me.

Kaffe Fassett Collective Print Substitutions

So, as soon as I get the math quilt bound, I'll be able to start piecing the Tabby Mountain quilt top.  That should come together fairly quickly, and then it's destined to be the SECOND real quilt for my longarm machine!

Because I have another goal for 2018, in addition to buying more fabric and drinking more wine.  My number one quilting goal for this year is to become proficient with my longarm quilting machine.  With that in mind, I'll be choosing more quick and easy piecing projects so I can focus on improving my quilting skills.  Then, once my quilting ability is on par with my piecing and applique skills, I can go back to more complex projects without fear of "ruining" them with shoddy beginner quilting!

Today I'm linking up with:

• ·       Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com  
• ·       Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts http://www.cookingupquilts.com/
• ·       Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/
• ·       Moving it Forward at Em’s Scrap Bag: http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.com.au/

You Guys!! Look What I Quilted Yesterday! My Math Quilt Is Ready for Binding!

Our so-called "winter storm" shut down the entire city of Charlotte for three whole days, y'all.  And apparently all it takes for me to get over my Quilter's Block is three unexpected days off from EVERYTHING, spent in my pajamas, in my studio, watching YouTube tutorials.  I started -- and finished -- quilting my first real quilt on my longarm machine.  This particular quilt has been a WIP (Work In Progress) for me for two and a half years, inspired by doodling that my son Lars did on graph paper in his 8th grade math notebook.  Hence the black math equations fabric and the name "Math Is Beautiful."  This was intended as a gift to that 8th grade math teacher, who taught Lars for both 7th and 8th grade and then taught my younger son, Anders, when he was in 8th grade.  I'm looking forward to finally delivering this to her sometime soon -- and yes, she will definitely still remember who we are.  My family is, um, VERY MEMORABLE.  Ahem.  So, YAY!

I Quilted This All By Myself On My Longarm Machine!

I ended up doing a full float for this quilt because I forgot that I was supposed to pin the bottom of the backing to the backing roller and then load the quilt top before pinning the other end of the backing to the takeup roller for a partial float.  So I just went with it, even though it kind of freaked me out that the quilt top was just going to be hanging off the front of my quilt frame with the batting.

Math Quilt Loaded, Full Float Method

I was really nervous about keeping things straight and square and smooth, but this was probably the ideal sort of quilt top for this method.  It was fairly small, crisply starched, and totally flat and square to begin with.  There were no bubbles to quilt out or wavy borders to correct for.  I used my vertical and horizontal channel locks to check positioning every time I advanced the quilt and it worked out just fine.  So, although I still think I prefer partial float for most projects, if only to minimize the quilt top's exposure to dust and dog fur, I've decided that the full float method is fine for quick projects like this one.  I'm glad I tried it, even though I tried it by mistake when I meant to do it the other way!

Quilting a Pantograph with Thoroughly Modern Millie

See?  After I advanced the quilt the first time there wasn't much hanging off the edge anymore, anyway.  

I am learning SO much.  After watching my videos, I was brave enough to completely rethread the machine rather than just tying onto the previous thread and pulling it through.  I used my TOWA gauge and tweaked my bobbin tension (it's a new bobbin case; I purchased one for each thread type because unlike my Berninas' pricey parts, an APQS bobbin case costs only $12!), and then I monkeyed around with my top tension until I had a nice, balanced stitch on the top and bottom.  No more fear of touching tension dials!  My APQS dealer said she didn't think the TOWA gauge was necessary, and she's probably right for most quilters, but I liked being able to set my bobbin tension to 150 and see what that looked like, and then set it to 180 and see what that looked like, and then put it right back down at 150 again if I wanted to rather than just going by feel.  It's a personality thing; I approach these things like it's a science project and I like being able to take measurements.  Also, the TOWA bobbin case tension gauge has won some kind of Deming Medal, and Deming is actually my maiden name so this contraption LITERALLY has my name on it!

TOWA Bobbin Case Tension Gauge

Because my Millie machine has the smaller L bobbin, that's the size TOWA gauge I bought.  I won't be able to use the TOWA gauge with my Bernina 750 bobbin case, but I'll bet I can use it with the bobbin cases for my Singer Featherweight machines if they need adjusting. 

Back to the Math Quilt -- I also allowed more excess batting and backing beyond the sides of the quilt top this time than I did on my two practice quilts so I could check tension and stitch quality on a piece of scrap fabric.  Seasoned longarm quilters have advised me to check stitch quality throughout the quilting process, not just at the beginning of the project, because any number of things can make it go out of whack unbeknownst to you and it's better to test and adjust throughout than to get to the end of your quilting and have to rip everything out!  So when I advance to custom quilting, I'll want to test and adjust with every thread change, maybe even with each new bobbin.   I'll keep that in mind from now on when I'm calculating how much batting and backing I need for each quilt top.

Extra Batting and Backing on Sides for Testing Stitch Quality

The other nice thing about that extra batting and backing at the sides is that it eliminated the problems I was having with the carriage of the quilting machine knocking into or getting hung up on my Grip Lite side tension clamps.  I bought aluminum rods from my APQS dealer that slide under the Velcro strips to lift the clamps out of the way, but they lift the edge where the clamp is holding onto the quilt backing, too.  With more excess backing, the actual quilt remained completely level all the way out to its edges and only the excess backing fabric is lifted with the clamps.  I had 7" of extra batting on each side and about 4 1/2" of extra batting this time and I wouldn't want less than that.  Next time I might like a couple more inches of batting for my test stitching area, though.  

Aluminum Rod Raises Grip Lite Clamps Away from Machine Carriage or Ruler Base

After hemming and hawing about it, I ended up choosing what I hoped would be a beginner-friendly edge-to-edge pantograph design for this quilt.  It's called Popcorn LG from Willow Leaf Studio.  I'm using Glide trilobal polyester quilting thread in Cool Grey 7, top and bobbin, and a black batting due to the dark colors in the quilt top.

Following a Paper Pantograph Pattern With Laser Light from Back Side of Machine

So, quilting pantograph patterns is not as easy as it looks!  It is VERY difficult to stay on the line.  That's because the quilting machine is riding on a carriage with wheels on the X and Y axes, so it moves much more easily vertically and horizontally than it does diagonally, when all the wheels are working together.  I'm tracing these nice, rounded popcorn shapes from the back of the machine and when I go around to look at what I've actually quilted, I have made weirdly squared off popcorns with strange little toe appendages:

First Row Quilted.  Square Popcorn With Strange Toe Thingys.

I discovered that I had to slow down and try harder to stay on the lines and quilt rounded shapes that look round instead of square.  I also learned that if I engage my core (abdominal) muscles and quilt with my entire upper body, that gives me much better control of the machine than when I'm only using my arms.  

Quilting Blind From Behind

But I'm far from mastering this pantograph thing.  There were a few moments where everything clicked and I felt really in control, but it took me awhile to get to that groove each time I started quilting a new row and I wasn't able to stay there until the end of the row.  I think it's like driving a car; it just takes a lot of practice before the car (or the quilting machine!) becomes like an extension of your body that you can control consistently and accurately without thinking about it.  I can definitely understand why computer robotics are becoming so popular with professional quilters for these edge to edge designs!

Busy Prints Camouflage Subpar Quilting

This is hardly award-winning quilting, but it's totally fine for this quilt.  All of the busy prints hide the quilting anyway, and I'll bet it will look great once it goes through the wash.  It had better look great after it goes through the wash, because I can't give it as a gift if it looks ugly!

Another thing I got right for the first time on this quilt was machine basting the sides properly.  Remember what happened to the sides of my first practice quilt?

Wonky Crooked Edges On First Practice Quilt

Well, this time I did more of a basting tack stitch every couple of inches rather than a line of regular stitching.  That kept everything straight and square while still allowing the quilt layers to shift slightly as the quilting stitches drew everything inward.  That first practice quilt was really densely quilted, too, like a heavily custom quilted quilt would be.  I'll bet basting and stabilizing between blocks throughout the WHOLE quilt prior to adding any custom fills would help on that kind of project, too.  

Tack-Basting With Single Stitch Function and Channel Locks

I engaged my channel locks and used the single stitch function to baste about 1/8" from the edge all the way across, keeping everything nice and straight.  And when the quilting was finished and I took it off the frame to trim the excess batting and backing away, it turns out that this is probably the most perfectly straight and square quilt I have ever made.  Even though it was a full float, and the quilt top was only secured with those tack-basting stitches!  I'm amazed!

It's Straight!  It's Square!  Hallelujah!

As you see above, that tension practice scrap just gets trimmed off after quilting is complete, and I'm able to salvage the extra backing fabric for other uses so it's not wasted at all.  I might even use that for the binding.

Look, Ma!  No Pleats Or Puckers!

I am SO IN LOVE with my quilting machine, y'all!  The actual quilting part of this quilt only took me a couple hours, once you subtract all of the time I spent researching and testing.  No more safety pin basting, no more pleats and puckers on the backs of my quilts, and so many more creative possibilities!  I can't wait to get the next quilt on my frame!!  

But before I do that, I need to design, machine embroider, and attach a quilt label and then cut, sew, and hand finish the binding.  That will involve another educational delay, since I recently upgraded my Bernina embroidery design software to the newest version 8 and haven't played with it yet.  I'm upgrading from version 6, so I'm sure the interface is different and some of the tools are going to be moved around.  And I'm sick, too, which slows me down -- but only slightly.  I can't wait to show you guys this quilt once it's totally and completely finished at last, only two and a half years after I started it!  

Meanwhile, my replacement fabrics for the Cat Eyes on my Tabby Mountain quilt have arrived, and so has the backing fabric for that quilt.  That's going to be the SECOND real quilt on my longarm frame, since it will be quick to piece.  The less time it takes me to piece the quilt top, the braver I am about trying something new and risking disaster!

Tabby Mountain Quilt In Progress, Up Next for Quilting

I'm thinking that I will start by SID (stitching in the ditch) along all of the horizontal seams between rows with invisible thread, using a straight edge ruler.  Then I will roll it back up and SID all the diagonal seams between triangles, also with invisible thread, and then I can go back to the top again to play with ruler work and free motion fills using color matched threads.  That will be a really good skill builder to prepare me for the THIRD real quilt headed to my machine, my Paint Me A Story bear paw quilt:

Paint Me A Story Quilt Needs Custom Quilting

Okay.  Time to wrap up this blog post so I can design and embroider a quilt label.  Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!