Monday 14 January 2013

Star quilt done!

Yesterday I managed to cross the star quilt off the WIP list, and got it washed and dried. For the first time with this project I used cotton wadding rather then polyester - which meant a shrinkage of approx 5%. I was a touch nervous about what this would mean to the look of the quilt when it came out of the dryer - but you know what, I like the way it makes the FMQ look.
These are the before washing shots:
Before washing (and shrinkage)
And these are the after:
After washing

 The only real issue I can see is a slight bagginess to the cotton fabric in the less quilted areas - not an issue really, and especially if you use an all - over quilting design.

This quilt was pieced and quilted with Aurifil 50 weight thread, colour 2021. I've been using Aurifil for a while, originally just for quilting and using a cheaper thread for the piecing. The quality of Aurifil is so good though, that I'm just using Aurifil now - and I've noticed such a difference - it doesn't snap, doesn't knot and doesn't throw off a lot of lint. The difference, I guess, is just good quality - and I've come to the conclusion that when you're investing so much time and effort in to a project, you just can't afford to use poor components.  I'd be interested to try the thicker Aurifil coloured threads and see what this does to the appearance of my quilting.

It's snowing here today - you can probably tell by the horrible light in these photographs! Actually, blimey! It's really snowing...

4 comments:

  1. snowing here too, hence no work. really lovely quilt....think i will start using aurafil, so many people love it......do you get it on line?

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  2. I have also recently started using cotton instead of poly. I like the way it crinkles up and I think it helps "hide" some of my FMQ mistakes a little better when it does so. I really need to get some Aurifil. I started FMQ'ing Phoenix this morning, with a better quality thread than I usually use (not Aurifil, though). What a difference, not a single broken thread! I'm kicking myself for not trying different thread sooner (like years ago!!) but I'm hopeful that there's still hope for my FMQ, now that I seem to have figures out all the proper components.

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  3. And I should add here as well that your quilt is BEAUTIFUL and you did a fantabulous (yes, that's a word) job on the FMQ!!! (I know I said it on Facebook.... but just in case anyone reads my other comment and thinks I didn't even say anything nice about your quilt... I really do love it and the offer still stands about you teaching me how to do that, and me supplying you with Starbucks, chocolate, wine and long runs! Run on sentences much, Kat??)

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  4. I'm such a Tula fan, and I absolutely LOVE this quilt. So nice! And the quilting is lovely too. I just started using Aurifil too, and I absolutely love it. I think my machine prefers it too. :)

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