Friday, November 15, 2013

What’s on Your Frame this Friday?

On the frame this grey Friday morning is the Scrappy Happy Quilt!  This quilt was made for our RV…to add a little colour to the brown and beige interior! 

I’ll confess…I have put off quilting this quilt top…waiting till I get better on the Mid-Arm!   With all those plain blocks, the quilting is going to be so visible!  Well, the RV pulls out in just over a month and improvement isn’t in the cards! So I bit the bullet…and then got this sinking feeling that I had just wrecked a quilt top that I had really loved!!  My confidence plummeted!

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My machine was purring like a kitten but man I sure HATE this new batting!!  I ordered four Queen size bags of Hobbs batting from Connecting Threads!  I will NEVER EVER use Hobbs again!..EVER!  Just LOOK at it…can you SEE the holes! And look at how baggy and saggy it is!

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The grey and black splotches are HOLES!!

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I got her done…she’s not perfect but she IS scrappy and my crappy FMQ will lend itself to her charm!  Oh did I say ‘crappy’..I meant scrappy…:0)

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SEW…now I am going to BIG stitch hand quilt around the vine and flowers in the hopes of salvaging this quilt!! (and hope that the BIG stitches draw the eye to the vine and not to the FMQ)

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OK.. OK here’s a closer look…the loops are in the nine patches.

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This is the side batting where the Frame clamps onto the backing and batting!!  Have I told you that I will NEVER EVER use…

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Hobbs again!!  I was fighting with it the whole time!!  From now on I’ll stick to Warm and Natural batting…Yup…first stop down south is JoAnn’s batting department!!  She knows how to take care of me!!

Have a Fun Friday and keep that needle moving!!  It’s good for the soul!!  REALLY IT IS!!~P

27 comments:

  1. I've never used Hobbs but I think I'll definitely stay away from it after reading your post. The quilt looks great! :0)

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  2. I think your quilt looks good. Love 9 patch quilts.

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  3. I love your quilting it is beautiful and the quilt is darling....
    I only use Joann's batting....I buy it in 10 yard chunks....and one day I was buying some and they had an empty long tube and I ask them if I could have it....so I roll it on the tube and put a long plastic cloths bag on it and stand it in the corner of my closet.....it stays clean and it is out if the way.....and I just roll off what I need.....

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  4. I wish I had a frame, lol. I did use my bday card to get myself a mini sewing machine, great for sewing pillows and piecing so I can set up my machine for free motion at the big table and work on quilting a bit at a time, so that will make it easier for me.

    Debbie

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  5. Not crappy quilting Paulette....it looks great. I love your loopy flowers; which did on mine. If you want to feel good; look at mine!! lol. And I still love mine...we all have to start somewhere,and this is mine. I just feel good that I did a large quilt on the machine...mine is a sit down machine; a lot of fabric to control...but I did it!!! yay.

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  6. Oh my... that batting looks terrible, but your machine quilting looks great! You will always remember taking the plunge every time you see this quilt... and you will feel proud and remember how brave you are!!

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  7. Love your quilt , it's fantastic ! Love the daisys , what a perfect choice! Your quilting looks great to me ! How much fun. An rv trip.!!

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  8. Your quilting is great!! I've only done pantographs with my machine...scared to go free motion. I will think of you when I quilt my next project. I have a table runner waiting to be loaded, it has 3 blocks of Christmas embroidery...I gotta just DO IT. I admit I'm procrastinating. I've been using Nature's Touch 100% cotton by Pellon. It is packaged batting and very happy with it. I stock up when Joann's has it on sale. My all time favorite battings are by Quilters Dream only available at quilt shops. It is a 'Dream' to quilt with. They have a light green batting that is made with recycled bottles...it is great. Enjoy your weekend!

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  9. I agree with you---don't like Hobbs. The "only" time I buy it is when I have to have a black batting. I use Warm n Natural. In fact just finished a quilt for the hubs and use 2 batts for extra warmth for him. Did have it long armed but will let you know how it is to sew on the binding next week.

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  10. Was thinking about you and Joann's as I was looking at their holiday flyer and all the coupons...wasn't sure if you needed anything NOW and could pick up on your down south.

    Love the quilting on the quilt!

    Enjoy your weekend...have another football playoff game tonight and a college visit tomorrow up in Puget Sound.

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  11. I use Hobbs Heirloom that I buy at Michaels with my 40 percent off coupon. It seems to be fine, no problems yet. Maybe you just got a bad batch. Your quilting looks wonderful, nothing to be ashamed of. This quilt will look fabulous in the 5th wheel, its bright colours are perfect for the desert. The big stitching will top things off nicely.

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  12. I agree, when you roll out a Hobbs batt out of the bag, its distressingly baggy and nearly impossible to smoothe. I've almost stopped using because of this. But I've never experienced holes. I wonder, was it 100% cotton, or 80/20? I do like Warm and Natural, and I can get it off the roll at Beverly's - with a coupon.

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  13. Once you wash it P the quilting looks even better!

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  14. I use Hobbs all the time, right off the roll, but never on a machine! That issue would be so annoying! If you go anywhere near Spokane on your journey south, you can buy an entire roll of Warm and Natural at Heartbeat Quilting for an excellent price! Your quilt is wonderful and I'm sure after you get used to the 'human touch' you'll love having it around.:)

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  15. Love it! Looks awesome!
    I use Hobb's but I buy it on the roll and it never has looked like that. Im on my 4 th roll now and still is good. I wonder if it's just the way it was cut up and packaged that it got ruined.
    :(
    Donna

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  16. Hope you send a link to this post to Hobbs. I've been quite happy with their product, but like several of your commenters have mentioned, it's fine coming directly off a roll (I'm almost through my second 30-yd roll). I stay away completely from any packaged batting, simply because of some of the issues you have described.

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  17. Hobbs on the roll is much nicer than that package junk! I tell my clients I won't use the package batting for exactly what you show and say. I hope you get to try it by the roll to discover the difference.

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  18. Paulette, I think you're being too hard on yourself. The quilting looks good. I love the flowers.

    I'm not sure I've every used Hobbs but you can sure if I have that I won't be again! You should send the manufacturer a link to this post.

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  19. I've been using Hobbs 80/20 for more years than I can remember. And usually it is the packaged kind. I have never seen holes like that. It is much nicer on a roll. Looks like you got a bad batch. I like it because it is much lighter than the Warm & Natural.

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  20. Oh, Paulette you are being way too hard on yourself--I like the motif you put in the blocks and it looks good!!! As for Hobbs, I've never used it but many, many APQS longarm owners swear by it. FYI--I don't clamp my batting, only the backing. I like Quilters Dream batting if I am looking for puffier than Warm & Natural.

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  21. Oh, forgot, I don't particularly like any batting which comes out of a package--it's all wrinkled!! All my batting is on rolls--takes up a lot of space but I go through a lot of batting!

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  23. Sorry, I deleted the previous comment cos I hit send in mid-sentence! Anyway, I think your quilting is great. The FM style suits the scrappiness of the quilt.

    As for the batting, I had a horrendous time with Hobbs on one quilt about 4 or 5 years ago (and it's still bearding through onto a rust-coloured backing) and I wrote to Hobbs. They ignored me. I now use Warm and Natural which I buy in a roll so I can take off what I need each time.

    You called this "What's on Your Frame"? My answer has to be DUST.

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  24. Your quilting looks the wonderful. Love the flowers.
    I used Hobbs on a quilt last year. Horrible! It is so thin and it also had holes. I will never use it again. Sorry you had this bad experience also.

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  25. I think your clamps may be too strong or too tight.

    I made some clamps for my frame (I use 2 on each side) so that the quilt is pulled more evenly to the sides rather than in one tiny spot. You can see the link here:
    http://blog.petitdesignco.com/2012/11/diy-side-clamps.html#more

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  26. Love your 9-patch scrappy quilt. You are getting better every time you quilt. Keep practicing. I like Tuscany, it's a Hobbs poly and it works great for me. Lightweight and warm.

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