Stippling in the real world
Up until now, I’ve done my stippling for the Quilt-Along on little quilt “sammies”. Now the challenge is to see how to make all of that work in the real world…on a real quilt. It wasn’t quite as easy as I thought it would be. I put together a table runner made from some cast-off blocks. I actually liked it and I thought I might donate it to our guild’s silent auction in the fall. I’m second guessing that idea now!
On the blocks, I tried straight lines once again. And, once again…not real straight! And, of course, this block didn’t lend itself to quilting without traveling. So, once again, I had to wander. I think I may need a GPS on my machine before this is over! I just couldn’t find a way to quilt it without starting, stopping or traveling. The blocks don’t look horrible, but they don’t look great, either. Practice…practice…practice
Here’s a close-up of the stippling on the sashing. I will admit to being happy with this. This is the size stippling I’m comfortable with. I was able to quilt all of it without stopping. I just had to take a look at the big picture before I started the sashing journey. I’m pleased with this part.
Here’s the border. I really don’t like wide stippling, but it was part of the lesson so I did it. There may be a time when that’s what works best and I want to be prepared for it. However, I think that the stippling looks a lot like little ghosts. So, I’m ready for Halloween if nothing else. “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!”
And, here is the finished product. I’m thinking I may keep it cuz I really like the thing! It’s too wide for my hutch top, but I’ll audition it on other tables. I think I can find it a home.
To quote my grandkids, “I’m not a big fan” of quilt-as-you-go. Tried it…really didn’t like it. But I’ll try Leah’s technique because I want to learn. No knowledge is ever wasted. Maybe not ever used again :-)…but not wasted. And as long as I’m learning, I’m going to pin-baste an applique wall hanging that managed to find its way to top of the UFO pile. Never pin-basted so this will be an adventure. Quilting and stippling around applique will be another adventure all together! I’m feeling like Indiana Jones this week!