I would like to improve my free motion quilting.

I would like to develop more patience. I went to the Somer's quilt show last weekend and sat for a Sharon Schamber lecture. She mentioned 'junk food quilter' as being those that churn out tops and have LA quilters finish them. That's me.

I tend to shy away from quilts that look like they're too complicated or will take too much time to complete.

Maybe I just haven't found the right quilt that truly speaks to me and makes me want to devote hours and hours to perfecting it.

Anyway, I'd like more patience and less tendency toward immediate gratification.

Dianne

I do love junk food!

I would like to improve my income so that I can afford a home with an extra room to set up my machine permanently and properly store my stash. I would probably enjoy the craft more.

Rebecca

I'd like to be able to free motion quilt.
Mayme

All the above. I would really love to improve my ability to stuff my quilts through my standard machine. Either that or enough money for a long arm.....

beverly

Accruacy(sp?)would probably be the most desired but improving FMQ is high on my list. Jayne

My goal is to take a class on the basics. I would like to know how it all comes together and if I'm on the right track.

Having said that I really wish I could put on the binding and miter those corners!! I know they can't be as difficult as I make them. LOL

Susan

Time to practice and the space to work in. I have a lovely room, all for me, but it's currently being used to store all the new cabinets, fixtures, etc. for the bathroom remodel.

Definitely my accuracy. I would like to be able to sew a complicated square with a lot of pieces and have it come out the exact right size.

Susan, where do you get hung up on mitering the corners? Here is a quick description of how to attach a binding. I hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: binding a quilt

FMQ for me, too. (Looks like we should all to go to the retreat and have a class.)

SharonG/FL

Well Sharon, a class 'could' be taught at Retreat, but who's going to teach it!?!? lol

I think I'd like to improve my borders. I tend to slap them on (plain) just to be done. I think they could be more of an asset than a completion.

Free motion quilting and machine applique. I am half a 'junk food quilter' sometimes you just want to make something fast!!!!!
Rosa

Junk Food quilting? I'm insulted. I tend to churn out the tops when I'm in the mood, but usually quilt them myself. Not every quilt has to be an heirloom or a work of art. Now that I've vented about that, I would like to improve my accuracy too.

I definitely need to improve my hand quilting so that the stitching is uniform...also my choice of colours...

Exactly. I laughed about the 'junk food quilting' title, because that's probably me. But Fran has a point. How you choose to quilt IS the right way to quilt, once you get past a few basics. If you enjoy whipping out tops when the mood hits you then go for it! If you like the piecing or fabric art and hate the quilting end of it, let somebody else finish it!

Quilting is the quintessential folk craft, and folk crafts don't come with rules. It's your baby, and your ballgame. After having spent many countless hours drooling over pictures of antique quilts, and also the prize winning quilts at shows, the common denominator the go across the board as to complexity and style, and there are those of us who enjoy primitive styles (think Gee Bend) as much as those five year projects (and they are awesome and I appreciate them too). To get too Martha Stewart with how a quilt should be made would turn off a lot of prospective quilters.

What would I improve? Everything about my quilting, and it's happening gradually as I get more quilts under my belt. I love all my quilts, including the absolutely crude first one I ever made. Given my skills at that time, it's a masterpiece for my ability level and made with so much love, it's got a special place now on my daughter's bed, who quilts much better than I.

Lola-I made a copy of the binding page. I like the way they spell it out, very easy to understand.

I think were I go wrong is: I have to remember not to sew over 1/4" (sometimes I go more) and then I leave myself short when I try to wrap it around to the other side.

On the corners I have trouble figuering out how to leave the needle in the fabric (after stopping 1/4" from the corner) and then pulling the binding up, then fold down and then start sewing again. Does this make any sense? Am I suppose to stop and cut the thread, then pull the binding up, then fold down and then put the quilting foot 1/4" from the end and start again??

I know this sounds weird, as yes you might be rolling your eyes, but I think that's where I go wrong. Then when it comes to pulling the corner over the end to the other side my poor mitering looks like a big lump!!

Susan

Susan, I stop at my corner, backstitch one stitch, pull the quilt out and do the folding for the miter. Then it goes back under the pressor foot. I can't even imagine trying to do that with the needle in the fabric.

Dianne, I know that Sharon Schamber is a fine teacher, but I found that comment of hers more than a bit offensive.

My very dear friend uses piecing as her occupational therapy fun after a brain injury. I quilt her tops. There is nothing junk-food about them; they are beautiful.

Other people simply like to make tops, and don't enjoy the quilting process, so they employ someone else to do the part they don't enjoy, or can't manage. I can paint a house better than most pros - I helped my father in his painting business from the time I was 12. I'm very good at it. I also hate it - so why denigrate me for hiring someone to do something I don't wish to do? It's the same thing as hiring a long-arm quilter.

Well said Mary. The more I think about that comment the more offensive it is. People quilt for many reasons and usually put a lot of time and energy into it. To call it junk food is just plain bad taste.

Susan, if you have trouble remembering where to stop, or trouble gauging how far ¼ from the end is, as you get close to the end (probably 2-3 inches left before the corner) you could probably stop sewing and pull the binding to the corner then make a mark on your binding, a dot or a line ¼ inch from the corner, because this will not show (you will be folding the fabric over this spot). I have not actually done this, but I was thinking of a way that you would remember to stop at the right spot.

Once you get to your stopping spot, as Mary said, take a back stitch and cut your thread. Then do the fold thing (it sounds like you have that down). Then start sewing your next side right from the EDGE of the fabric, not ¼ inch in. I was taught as you stated, to start the next part ¼ inch in and my corners were hit and miss. Sometimes there was a gap and sometimes it worked. Then I read a description that said to start at the edge and my corners have been pretty good ever since, so I think for me, that makes a difference.

Time and energy all at the same time. If I have the time I don't seem to have the energy. When I have the energy there's 22 hundred thousand (give or take) that I need to do.

I also would like to improve my free motion quilting - a long arm machine would help LOL! But then I'd have to buy a new home with a special room for the machine!

Regarding the binding issue. I do as Lola suggested and mark the spot to stop. Then I backstitch a bit - although I have seen it suggested to turn the quilt 90 degrees and stitch that 1/4 inch to the edge of the fabric. I have always started the new side 1/4 inch down - the stitching of the previous side can be a guide as to where to start.

I recently watched the video about using Elmer's glue to help with binding. I intend to use that method, if I can find any of the tips.

I also need to improve in my attention quilting span - I spoend more time looking at quilts (magazines, on line, etc) and planning new ones than I do with the actual production!

goldie

I like the glue method. It produces a fine, flat binding.