Feeling the fear and doing it anyway...

...or maybe a more accurate title would be "Having to quilt the quilt on my frame because the central heating engineer needs space to work!".

The Sparkle Punch Quilt was attached to my quilting frame in late March.

In the normal course of things I would have started quilting it shortly after but whilst setting it up I found that, due to being clever when purchasing the fabric and the forgetting that I had been clever, the backing fabric was too short for the quilt. Loading up the frame had been quite an effort so I wasn't massively keen on starting again having bought new backing, likewise the alternative of makinvbthd top shorter also didn't fill me with joy.

This dilemma took me ages to resolve.

Eventually I decided that the better of the two options was to buy a new backing, which actually was quite easy to swap onto the frame. I actuallynalso prefer this second backing and I know the recipient does too.

A couple more weeks of procrastination passed, I enjoy using me frame and once I get going all is fine but this is a big quilt and the machine a use tends to play up a bit in the early stages requiring unpacking.

Eventually confirming that our central heating replacement was going to take place at the end of July spurred me into action as th frame takesmip a lot of space and would make lifting floorboards in the room tricky.

After all my procrastination the quilting went well, no unpicking required.  I also tried out glide thread which had been recommended in various places and it was brilliant and didn't break once. My free motion quilting it still a big wonky but overall I'm pleased with the effect and am thrilled that this quilt that's been on the go on and off since 2013 is almost finished.

The Frame

I don't know what's more amazing that I've finally used my Cotton Orchard quilting frame in anger (after having it well over a year) or that I'm actually blogging about it!

First challenge was to set it up. When I'd last taken it down I'd deconstructed everything, and those side panels were fiddly to put back together with no instructions (a sure sign they shouldn't be taken apart). 

Embarrassingly getting to the point where the quilt was loaded and ready to go took me all afternoon and into the evening. 

Nerves and a few failed test runs meant that it was then a few days before I got the courage to actually quilt. 

But with the right thread and a bit of care I was off. 

The actual quilting was quick, easier than wrangling the quilt through the sewing machine and satisfying. The end result is a little lumpy due to not always remembering where the limits of the quilting area was, but I'm happy. Just the binding to go. 

You'll be pleased to hear that loading the second quilt, including building the frame and pressing the backing, took less than two hours. 

My Ultimate Gadget

After a trip to IKEA last week to pick up some necessary parts I finally got my new 'gadget' set up over the last few days.

This...

Plus this...

Becomes this...

Throw in my own sewing machine and a test piece of fabric and ... wallah...

...a freestyle quilting frame from Cotton Orchard Quilts, who are conveniently located about an hour from my home (and IKEA trestle legs supporting it).  

We first came across these at the Great British Sewing Bee Live.  I'd always dreamed of having a long arm quilter but space and finances prevented it, so I was in love when we saw these.  I've gone for a 2.5m frame which can hold quilts up to 2.1m wide ish.  I am going to try and squeeze the wedding quilt onto it, but in future if I want to larger quilts I'm going to have to probably quilt as I go.

Had my first play on it this evening...

(Underneath view - no eyelashes in this bit)

(It was suggested that initial practice was carried out on a cheap bedsheet without wadding to practice technique)

Lots more practice required and I'm going to have to re-read my FMQ books for inspiration.