Cross Cut Finish
It’s not often that I finish a quilt, all on my own, within a few days of piecing it. I have a habit of setting quilt tops aside and moving on to the next project. I am really excited to show you my completed Cross Cut quilt.
It took me a little time to decide how I wanted to quilt it. I noticed a little, somewhat fractured, heart in the quilt. This wasn’t planned by me; I didn’t see it until I started looking at the quilt after the top was sewn together. See it there, a little left of center?
So I began to think about that little fractured heart, about what I should name this quilt, and how to quilt it. And just like that, an idea popped into my head.
One of my favorite verses from the Bible is Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
So this little mini is named 423 after that verse. Inside the heart, I made some simple curved lines to represent a spring or spray of water. Then I just stitched an echo around the outside of the heart. Nothing too risky or fancy, just keeping it simple.
Here’s the echo work. I just eyeballed it and stitched away.
I decided to use a black and white fabric from my stash for the backing, and red fabric for the binding. Here’s a picture of the stitching on the back.
I’m still getting comfortable with machine quilting on my domestic, so this is far from perfect, but I’m excited because I had an idea, and I actually made it work!
The black and white fabrics in the quilt are Thicket by Gingiber for Moda; the colors are Riley Blake Crayola solids. I used a spool of red Gutermann thread that I had on hand for the machine quilting.
The one frustrating thing during the machine quilting process was that my walking foot was causing some problems. I would stitch along just fine, and then all of a sudden my needle would just drop out. I checked to make sure the walking foot was on correctly. I made sure the needle was tightly screwed into place. It was so annoying. The needle stayed threaded (no breakage); it just dropped out of its holding. I used spray baste (could that be the problem, even if the needle didn’t feel tacky?) and used Warm & Natural batting. If you have any advice, I’d be happy to hear it.
So that’s my Friday Finish — my little 423.
Enjoy your weekend, friends!
I’m linking up today with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts.
Wendy
9 Comments
Karen Goad
I like your quilt and the quilting. I use a Juki for any machine quilting I do and normally have no problems but there has been a time or two that my needle has come loose and broke as it fell out – the old machine I used to use a low end Janome did it all the time. I find now that before I machine quilt and part way through each session I tend to check and see if my needle is tight out of habit I guess -I didn’t realize others had a problem with that too
piecefulwendy
Thanks, Karen! The needle thing is an annoyance, but for now I can put up with it. Good to know others have experienced it, though. Maybe I’ll get some answers!
Linda
Very cool design. The spray should have no affect. I’d just check the tightness of your needle every so often. Maybe it’s just coming loose as you FMQ.
piecefulwendy
Thanks, Linda. That seems to be the case, but it’s really annoying.
Needle and Foot
Love the name you gave your quilt. So sweet- especially the fractured heart.
I have no clue about your needle woes. Sorry I can’t be of help but I bet someone will have an idea for you.
piecefulwendy
Thanks, Bernie!
Connie Albin
Great job on your cross cut quilt. The quilting looks really good!
cjh
I’ve heard before that a walking foot can cause the needle screw to loosen. Just being aware to tighten it regularly may be the solutions
piecefulwendy
That seems to be the case. Thanks! I’ll just have to keep checking it as I sew (which I did).