Ongoing Quilt Projects, Continued from the "No Appreciation...." Thread

[speckledhen]

Thanks, how much might you expect to use on a quilt with a lot of stitching? How many cones?

I've never used an entire 3000 yard cone of thread on one quilt, probably not even half a cone, but I never make king size ones, either. It's really hard to gauge, like jeria said. The last cones of Maxi Lock I got were at a huge discount at only $2.15/cone, plus shipping, which averaged to just over $3 per cone. Cotton is much more expensive, generally, and higher quality polyester like Isa Cord is fairly expensive, but the cones have more yardage on them.

 

[User395221]

It's really hard to gauge, like jeria said.

Yes, and it would vary by how dense you decide to stitch. I'm just curious as to what type of outlay there is in the practice required to start on something "for real".

 

[User395221]

It's really hard to gauge, like jeria said.

Yes, and it would vary by how dense you decide to stitch. I'm just curious as to what type of outlay there is in the practice required to start on something "for real".

 

[speckledhen]

Speckledhen, FYI I have 16 years of longarm experience so it takes time and PPP.

And I have 30 years experience hand quilting, which many folks have zero. It was a lot of practice to get those tiny, even stitches, just like it's taking me lots of practice to get enough control on a machine. They are such completely different skills!

Yes, and it would vary by how dense you decide to stitch. I'm just curious as to what type of outlay there is in the practice required to start on something "for real".

I hate using up fabric. Thread is a minor expense in the practice. And I always have batting scraps laying around, but fabric is something I hate to "waste" in practice sessions. What I was using was a piece of fabric that I never found a good use for and have had for many years, definitely would have been a sale fabric from when I used to live near a fabric store back in "civilization".

 

[jeria]

Yes, and it would vary by how dense you decide to stitch. I'm just curious as to what type of outlay there is in the practice required to start on something "for real".

I haven't kept track, probably should have. I often use really cheap muslin . Use 50% off coupon for Joann's and buy a bolt of really cheap plain fabric. I like plain so I can see the stitching. I tend to use pieces of batting tucked in that are too small for much else, trimmings from other quilts or I usually have a cheap thinner roll of poly batting just for practice. I have to buy a new one as my practice batting which was on the floor under my long arm was damaged when the storms drains backed up a while ago.

I keep a zipper on a practice quilt so I can play with new designs easily. I have a zipper system for my long arm. Molly Poly is inexpensive thread and it works well for quilting they have great colors. I also tend to use up partial bobbins for practice.

 

[jeria]

Hand quilting is so hard for me--too much arthritis in my hands. I admire those who are able to do it well.

Joann's online has some muslin that is about 2.79 a yard and there are 40 and 60 % off coupons available. They have straight $2.99 shipping or free to store for pick up if you have one fairly close.. Utility muslin works fine for practice. I wouldn't put it on a quilt. Hobby Lobby has online for $2.09 a yard.

 

[DuckLady]

That's probably doable, Terrie. If I can get the hang of the motif on a smaller scale, I can certainly make it larger. I just have to check myself to make sure I'm not doing it smaller and smaller as I go along, which is a tendency of mine. So, big paisleys would work on this one, in your opinion?

Cyn did you see this?

I was just watching it and thought of your quilt.

 

[speckledhen]

Cyn did you see this?

I was just watching it and thought of your quilt.

LOL, yes, that is what I was trying to do, but failed miserably. It seems easy. Well, it's not, at least for me.

 

[jeria]

Just takes practice, you can do this. Remember leaves are not all the same shape even on the same tree they vary a bit. I love echoed leaf designs as they fit so many quilts.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks, jeria. It seems that the supposedly easy shapes are the hardest for me, like just a flower. I can't make the petals come off the circle right. It's like I try to go back to the beginning of the first petal and it gets all lopsided. I don't have a lot of fabric to practice on. Maybe I should just get a lot of those Waverly solids at Walmart. They are normally only $2.97/yd and sometimes, even on sale for just $2/yd or even $1.50 on a sale rack. For practice, I could get the poly cottons from China that I'd never use in a quilt, which can be very cheap, but need solids to see my stitches for practice, naturally.