Monday, August 15, 2011

My Machine and I - Design Wall Monday

You know I never machine quilted an entire bedsize quilt before.  With my old Elna Quilter's Dream it just wasn't possible.   Now though, on my Janome Horizon and its nearly 12" sewing bed, I can.  On Saturday, I managed to pull back out my commissioned memorial quilt and start basting the second third of the quilt.  OMG, the thing is a monster!  Its about 95" by 115".  Because of this, I pieced it in three columns  and decided to layer it up that way too.  I'm all happy with myself though because in two days I got a whole column done.  It only took 2 hours to baste and 7 hours to quilt!  Now that I've gotten into the groove of how to move those big long columns through the machine its really quiet relaxing work.  Its amazing how much thread you go through though - I've already used the first 5oo yd spool and am into the 3000 yd cone I had to buy.  I'm using Janome's  Iris cotton quilting thread since it came with my machine and its really nice.  Considering that I'm using it in the bobbin and on top, the lint is really minimal.  I'm going to continue onto the third today and do the little FMQing the quilt will need at the end.  I did manage to find a nice quilt as you go method to sew the three columns together - but more on that when I get there!


I also managed to finish the Jinny Beyer Challenge this week.  It will get handed in to the quilt shop today so that they can display it at the Chautauqua Institute in September.    I always forget how much work is involved at the end.  Between the binding, sleeve and label it can take a bit.  Anyways - here are the particulars of the project:


  • Passageways, A Jinny Beyer Challenge
  • 23" by 28"
  • 50 hours to complete
  • used inktense pencils to make foreground fabric
  • raw edged applique and threadwork is feature
Thanks for all the encouragement with this project - it was a true help!!

See more Design Wall's at Judy's Patchworks!

9 comments:

Carol A. Babineau said...

Both quilts look fabulous! Glad you love your machine too!
The Jinny Beyer is SO CREATIVELY COOL!

Kathie said...

Can't imagine tackling a quilt that huge!!

Quilter Kathy said...

Congratulations on finishing Passageways...it is wonderful! And good luck with the humongous quilt!

Chris said...

Passageways is beautiful. I cannot even think about tackling such a large quilt. Kudos!

Katie Z. said...

Great work.

Annie said...

Your Jinny Beyer Challenge quilt is fantastic!

Vicki H. said...

Lovely quilting, I have had difficulties using a regular machine to quilt and one so big to do is a challenge. Your's turned out beautifully. The challenge quilt is a fantastic quilt and is a big winner in my book, great job.

Jean(ie) said...

Yay you! I discovered your blog from the Horizon message board. Don't you just love the machine? Quilting is a dream. I can't wait to see your QAYG method.

That's something I need to learn.

JenEve said...

Wow - you are on a quilting roll! I love that you used the pencils to color the foreground in the Passageway piece - very cool! Did you end up showing this piece? The only time I've been using my machine these days is to sew up journal pages or do some random stitching on paper - LOL!