Progress on Halloween HST
Well, my morning was hi-jacked by a problem with an office supply order. It wasn't the order itself but my "Rewards" account. I had all this money in a reward account that I get emails about but when I would go to place an order, it said I didn't have any rewards available.
I was fortunate to connect with the right person on "Chat Help" who got to the root of the problem. Yeah! I now have my rewards and the current purchase ended up being about $3 after applying my rewards. Money saved and now my rewards will work going forward. Only down side was the amount of time it took to get it resolved.
Halloween HST
I made progress on Halloween HST yesterday. It's all mounted and I was able to complete about 2/3's of the SID work. SID stands for stitch-in-the-ditch. I'm using this quilt top to practice custom quilting. SID is used to stabilize the top for pattern placement and achieve that fine quilting work we all love. It takes practice to do it well. The goal today is to finish the SID work and start the quilting ?
Ok, so here is something I've always wondered about regarding quilting a top. When I was a beginning quilter, people would say to me "Oh, just stitch in the ditch" or "well, basic quilting is just stitch in the ditch." I got the impression it was a "beginner" technique.
Well, I got news for you, IT'S NOT a beginner technique. It's really HARD to do well. It requires accuracy and precision to get a professional look. Any variance at all makes it look very amateurish. I suppose that's why people think of it as a beginner technique - because almost everyone who does it ends up with a "beginner looking" quilt. Why anyone ever recommend it to beginners is well beyond my understanding. ?♀️
Getting Good Advice
At one point during my early days as a beginning quilter, a wise and more experienced quilter, none other than Diane Gaudynski, suggested I try meander, loops, or stipple type quilting. If you aren't familiar with Diane's work, she has won the top awards at the International Quilt Show in Houston and The American Quilter Association Show in Paducah, multiple times. She knows what she is talking about.
Meander, stipple, or loops are techniques that do not require any kind of accuracy or consistency to make them look good. It only takes a little bit of practice. These are designs that every quilter can learn and make look good because there is no accuracy or pattern to follow. There is no right or wrong. This advice saved me and bumped up my skills with just a little practice. Here is a link to Natalia Bonner's video on how to stipple a quilt. Give it a try!
It's day 23. The block is Spools. There are many blocks with the name "Spools," and they all look different. It is an easy block to make. Most use only 1/2 square triangles and squares. I found this version in Marsha McCloskey's Block Party book (McCloskey, 1998).
Until next time,