I am ridiculously excited that I finished these two blue and white table toppers while it is still January. The part I am excited about is that I did the quilting myself on the machine and it turned out decent! Can't wait to tell you about the process.
I got so many really useful tips from you wonderful readers. One of them that I jumped on right away was to look into the machine quilting classes that are offered on Craftsy. Craftsy.com What a great resource! I have used Craftsy in the past, but had kind of forgotten about it. I purchased Jacqui Gehring's class called "Creative Quilting with your Walking Foot". I loved the sound of that. Free Motion quilting and I have not exactly hit it off as of yet.
Jacqui is a terrific instructor, and I felt as if I was sitting right across from her in a proper class. Her main message is: use your walking foot, go slowly and sew straight. She likes to sew half inch grids or half inch straight lines. I had never sewn lines so close together before, usually choosing to sew about an inch apart. She said if you sew wide lines the attention will go to the lines. If you sew lines close together, the focus isn't so much on the lines as it is on the texture the quilting gives to the quilt top.
She was dead on right. The close quilting is a wonderful look and I don't think I have ever been this satisfied with anything I have machine quilted. I finished the first topper and was well pleased, then tackled the second one and had the same great results.
Using her method, I did not have to mark my quilt top at all. I used a piece of painter's tape laid diagonally on my quilt top and stitched my first line on the edge of the tape. After that, you discard the tape and use the guide bar on the walking foot to follow along the first stitch line, making parallel rows across the surface of your top.
I am so glad I purchased this class. I have used my walking foot and guide bar in the past with decent results, but you won't believe this: I had the guide bar positioned completely on the wrong side of the walking foot. Duh. Nothing like a visual to set a person straight.
Any way, if you don't "get" free motion quilting, but have a walking foot and think you can sew in a straight line with guidance, try this Craftsy class. I found it worth the $24.99 and learned so much. Plus, now that I own it, I can refer to it any time I like. Jacqui offers additional more advanced tips as well, and I am looking forward to playing around with my machine.
Have a great weekend everyone. And thanks again for all the encouragement and tips regarding machine quilting. I don't get to sew with friends anymore, so I love the feeling I get when reading all your comments. It is like being on a retreat with you all!
Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hugs!
Posted by: Barbara Anne | January 20, 2017 at 06:11 AM
LOVE your toppers! Love the colors. You did an awesome job on your quilting! What is that little light on top of your machine? Is it sitting on there with a magnet? I must look into this. Have a great weekend!
Posted by: Nancy Watkins | January 20, 2017 at 06:35 AM
I love your quilting on your table toppers! And yes, Craftsy is great I've learned a lot form watching classes there.
Have a wonderful weekend:-)
Posted by: Hildy | January 20, 2017 at 06:55 AM
The toppers are very pretty. I've also done straight line quilting using that method. I find it is a great alternative to just stitching in the ditch.
Posted by: Jeanna | January 20, 2017 at 07:09 AM
Fantastic, Nicole! I haven't bought a Craftsy class but did buy Jacquie Gering's new book , Walk, in which she has done all the advance study and figuring for walking foot designs. You should get it!
Posted by: AnnieO | January 20, 2017 at 07:33 AM
Beautiful! Congratulations, and may there be many more satisfying results in your future.
I have taken a class with Jackie -- she is an excellent teacher.
Posted by: Debbie R. | January 20, 2017 at 07:48 AM
WooHoo! You did it! And they look great! A great first success that you can build on. Congratulations!
Posted by: Mary Kastner | January 20, 2017 at 07:53 AM
Thanks for the 'after' picture of the toppers! You did a great job! After your success I'm going to look at the offerings on Craftsy.
Posted by: Jan | January 20, 2017 at 08:34 AM
Great Job !! Love Them !!!
Posted by: Sue Babich | January 20, 2017 at 09:15 AM
They look fabulous!
Posted by: Kathy Czuprynski | January 20, 2017 at 10:05 AM
I knew you could do it!
Posted by: piecrust | January 20, 2017 at 11:45 AM
Great finish. These are lovely.
Posted by: pam hansen | January 20, 2017 at 12:40 PM
The toppers look great and you accomplished it! I saw a friends newly finished table topper last week, two split four patches on point with set in triangles, where she just used her walking foot and it looked fabulous. Must finish that class as I did enjoy it but life got in the way and then forgot about it. Need to get over my feather addiction as I do love the simple elegance of straight line quilting. Enjoy your weekend.
Posted by: Penny | January 21, 2017 at 04:23 AM
I am next on the list at my guild to borrow Jackie's book and I'm hoping it will inspire a number of finishes. I like your choice on these, especially the diagonal lines. I can't keep avoiding my topper pile and done is so much better than having a pile in a plastic box.
Posted by: Colleen Gander | January 21, 2017 at 07:14 AM
i've been happy with the classes i've purchased from craftsy. your toppers are beautiful....love that shade of blues together. enjoy your dry saturday!
Posted by: ina | January 21, 2017 at 10:07 AM
I was lucky enough to take a machine quilting class from Kathy Sanbach, who has, sadly,since passed away. Her book Teach Me How to Machine Quilt is fabulous! See if you can find a copy. I am going to purchase that Craftsy class for sure!
Posted by: Miss Jean | January 21, 2017 at 04:48 PM
I am constantly amazed how much information and inspiration I get from your blog. First, there are no ads that keep popping up that stall my computer! Second, giving us a handful of tips about your Craftsy class makes me want to take one. I can't say enough about how much I look forward to each post.
Posted by: Mary | January 22, 2017 at 09:57 AM
Your quilting looks great! I'll have to look for that class, they have so many to choose from its hard to pick. Now that I know this is a good one I can try it, thx!
Posted by: Anita | January 23, 2017 at 12:29 AM
Way to go, Nicole! They look marvelous! Now that you're on the Craftsy email list, watch for their specials on classes. They had one last week, any class for $14.99. You can conquer Free Motion next!
Posted by: Amy L | January 23, 2017 at 06:20 AM
I love the quilting. What weight of thread did you use?
Posted by: Judy | January 25, 2017 at 02:20 PM