Machine Quilting And Hand Quilting

Some updates:

I started machine quilting- basically by piecing together the squares and rectangles last month. Cutting the fabric by rotary cutter on rotary board took me a week to finish it for a queen size quilt. Sewing them altogether ate at least a week of my time. When I did the sandwiching of the batting, backing and quilt (topping), I didn't realize how tough it is to work on this alone. I had to endure the trials and tribulation at this stage because I didn't have the large space to spread out the three layers together. My antidote?

First, I did it on the carpet. Second, I did it on the bed and that is where I did the basting. Third, I worked on it at the dining table to finish up and this was so far the better part of the deal. I was able to sit down decently while sewing.

I did a combo of basting and using the "quilting safety pins" by Singer to connect all three layers easily. You just can't use ordinary safety pins. They got to be the quilting pins or they don't easily get through the fabric. Moreover, they break your piece if you force it in. Luckily, Walgreens in Stockton carries Singer Sewing Machine brand of quilting pins, so I availed them and bought several packages. They are costly, I must tell you like $3.50 per small packet but they are a life saver!

As for the quilting work per se, I was naturally thrilled to get started on with it and with my excitement to use my new hi-tech Singer Sewing Machine, I decided to do it by machine and did set the control panel to the flower desing embroidery stitch that turned out to be a disaster. Because of the large size of the material I was working on, I didn't know the fabric was bumping the setting of the stitch's width to its narrowest setting. To my nightmare, I only noticed after I have done a lot of work on the three layers. Imagine my anxiety!

I was deeply frustrated and lost track but I didn't give up. I am this type who is driven to finish off whatever I started as a task so this disaster didn't quite lure me to quit. I opted to be patient and unraveled the large space of the queen size quilt for quite a bit.

After about 4 nights of doing it~ unraveling to the tiniest stitch, I finally finished the task! And around Tuesday this week, I began hand quilting which seems to take forever to finish but it is therapeautic for me. It has a calming effect on me that it just keeps me working on it up until 2 AM!

Now being the 5th day of autumn and being nippy and chilly, it is quite comforting to have this quilt to sit beside me, be with me, and envelope me as I stitch it bit by bit.

I will upload photos later, as it is only 3:41 AM here and it's still dark. I can't sleep and got out of bed to blog. Well, then this is all for now. Cheers!