Celtic Solstice: The Conclusion

I've finally finished Celtic Solstice - Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt for 2013.  Now, that might sound like I'm right up to date on quilting projects, but for full disclosure let me mention that I still have the mystery quilt top for 2012 waiting to be quilted as well as my Craftsy Block of the Month from last year.

We had a beautiful day today so I tried my hand at some outside photography:

I used a paper pattern to quilt this time.  On my last quilt I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't keep an even density on the stippling and I thought following a set pattern would be good practice to learn that.  I'm not so sure that I would do this again.  It seemed to make the whole process more complicated.  First of all I had to thread baste the sandwich since you can't have pins under paper and expect to be successful.  Secondly you have to tear off all that paper which is no small task.  There are still tiny pieces that I keep finding under the stitching.  And thirdly, when you are stitching over paper you can't really view your stitching too well making it difficult to get good stop and start places.  But, I did discover the answer to one of my nagging free motion quilting problems while finishing this quilt!  I've had trouble with the thread shredding and breaking when I move my quilt to the right during a free motion design.  After paying attention to the details of the problem I finally decided that it was my needle.  I've been using Superior topstitch needles which I love for everything, but apparently on my machine they are not the best for free motion.  The larger eye which is normally a plus allows my thread to rub against the last thread guide on the machine when moving in that particular direction.  The smaller eye on a regular Schmetz needle held the thread away from the guide.  Problem solved!  Yeah!!  I still love Superior topstitch needles but I guess when free motioning on my machine I need to give them a rest.

 

I also used one of my toys from last years travels and was much more impressed with it this time. The Fabulous Fabric Glide is made by The Gypsy Quilter.  The idea is that you put this around the area you are quilting and it helps you guide the fabric. It made the quilting process much kinder to my old arthritic hands and I'll probably give them another go without the paper this time.

I put flannel on the backing of this one just because I like it and I rounded the corners...same reason.

 So....that closes the book on this quilt.  On to the next project.