In The Loop

Now you can be IN THE LOOP!

I've learned a new trick for burying threads while quilting that is so slick, it needs to be shared. Remember in my last post that I commented about quilting without stopping unless my bobbin ran out? Ah,yes; well, it happens! This photo, left, shows where the bobbin thread ran out and the teeny, tiny needle tracks where yours truly kept stitching before I realized it. It happens to us all. So, in the past, when it was time to tie off and bury those pesky thread ends  I did so with a self- threading needle which I keep handy at the frame. 
I used these with varying degrees of success; sometimes drawing the quilting thread through the top of these needles would shred the thread, causing more of a headache than the thread running out! But, I persevered. I would usually "unquilt" an inch or so, draw the end of the bobbin thread to the surface, tie the top thread and the bobbin thread together, pull these through the self-threading needle and slide them down and into the batting until I could feel (and hear) the knot bury itself inside the batting layer. Then, I would clip the threads at the exit location, flush with the surface of the quilt; done. Replace the bobbin and begin again. My life changed last week when Quiltkeemosabe showed me a new trick; this is too cool to keep to myself, follow along with the numbered photos below and you'll be in the loop too.

She demonstrated this technique using a crewel needle because it has a large eye and a sharp point,  a needle with a large eye is required to accommodate thread which is thicker and stronger (she demo'd with tatting thread). The tatting thread, pictured here in red, is doubled. Notice in photo #3 how the thread's loop is positioned right at the knotted top and bobbin quilting thread; that loop (red thread) is where the quilting thread tails are placed so that the loop will gently pull them in and under the quilt's surface, following the needle, directly down into the batting layer! The threaded crewel needle is then slipped out; it now replaces those finicky self-threading needles at my frame! The next time that you're confronted with burying thread tails remember this easy-peasy trick; you'll be happy that you're in the loop!

Life is Good!

Up next: Progress and Pet Peeves

 

Summer Stitches

"Red Hot Summer" ~ 60.5" X 68.5"

Today is the first day of summer, bring it on! As a way to commemorate this premiere day of my favorite season of the year I have pulled out this Stack and Whack flimsy and loaded it onto Snowbird for quilting. I completed this top probably ten years ago. 
These "sand men" on the beach and related surf items combine to create wonderful kaleidoscopic effects, just as delightful today as they were to me back in 2007!

I didn't have enough of any one fabric for the backing, but I did manage to scare up enough of several coordinating sand and sea fabrics to compose a pieced back with a few big swaths of the featured large scale print for posterity. 

  

The pantograph I chose is "Waterworld" and the thread color is "sand". The beach motif is complete!

Let the fun begin!

How are you observing this number one day of summer at your house?

Life is Good!