Welcome Aboard, Barbara!

Thanks so much for coming out of lurkdom and sharing your journey into quilting! We're very happy to have you with us.

We all love pictures, so please share pictures of your progress/finished quilt.

Hi Barbara, I'm relatively new myself to this wonderful little forum. Jumped in only in this past year, after lurking for awhile myself and under the influence of a dear friend. Watch out, this quilting thing can be addictive!!! LOL... at least that's what I've discovered. Do post pics!!
V.

Congratulations and welcome. Looking forward to hearing more and seeing your quilt.

Welcome! I'm so glad you posted!

I'm working on a picnic quilt too. For me, this has been a never ending project but I'll get it done eventually.

What colors did you use?

Kate

Welcome, and congrats on your first quilt. I love keeping a quilt in the car. They are great for picnics on the ground, covering those nasty rest stop picnic tables, and just curling up under when it is cold outside. I'm sure your son and DIL will love having one.

beverly

Thank you all for your replies and I will definitely post pics as I get farther along, hopefully this week.

Kate, the colors I decided on are brown, green and sort of an aqua/french blue color, and one fabric has little birds in all those colors plus dark pink. The colors in their wedding were green, brown and pink so I think they'll like that. We always kept a quilt in the car when my children were growing up for frequent, impromptu picnics, so I think it will be a nice link to that memory.

Yes, I am prepared for the addictive part, in fact I just warned DH that a new sewing machine might be making an appearance since getting a really accurate 1/4" seam is somewhat challenging with my current machine.
Thanks again for the warm welcome!

Hi and welcome to our addiction. Your quilt sounds just like a very thoughtful gift. You might find a better foot for your machine, without having to buy a new one. I have found the feet to my old Brother also fit my new Singer.

Hello Calliope and thank you for the welcome. I did buy a piecing foot, but I feel like my stitching line wobbles a little when I'm using it, maybe because feed dog on the right side is half exposed and maybe the fabric doesn't feed smoothly. My work-around has been to use my regular foot and move the needle one notch to the right, but that requires me to use the needle plate with the slot when apparently the preferred one is just the single hole for the needle to go through. I have received a friendly warning that I'm asking for trouble in making that adjustment because sooner or later I'll forget to change the needle position. Also, I think I may just be craving one of those little Featherweights :)
Barbara

Hello Calliope and thank you for the welcome. I did buy a piecing foot, but I feel like my stitching line wobbles a little when I'm using it, maybe because feed dog on the right side is half exposed and maybe the fabric doesn't feed smoothly. My work-around has been to use my regular foot and move the needle one notch to the right, but that requires me to use the needle plate with the slot when apparently the preferred one is just the single hole for the needle to go through. I have received a friendly warning that I'm asking for trouble in making that adjustment because sooner or later I'll forget to change the needle position. Also, I think I may just be craving one of those little Featherweights :)
Barbara

"I think I may just be craving one of those little Featherweights :)"

LOL.........I don't blame you. Who wouldn't want one. Machine design really does play a lot into the joy of patchwork. I bought a new machine last winter and am also struggling with the feed dogs on it, and had to learn a whole new way of working with the narrow 1/4 inch seam allowance. Great machine for heavy duty fabrics like denim, but my cheap little machine I used before was much less touchy on the bobbin and feed and had wonderful design for narrow seams.

Hi Barbara, Waving from Indiana but live in Florida. Welcome to the forum and so happy to hear we played a part in getting you directed to a life of quilting. We quilters love to share.....

SharonG/FL-IN

Thank you Sharon! You have all been an encouragement. Even as I repair two blocks where I made a couple of cuts wrong, I know it's not an uncommon event. I am making good progress!
Barbara

Thank you Sharon! You have all been an encouragement. Even as I repair two blocks where I made a couple of cuts wrong, I know it's not an uncommon event. I am making good progress!
Barbara

Hi Barbara,

Making your first quilt is very exciting! How did you decide to quilt it? I'm glad you found QU helpful. I have really enjoyed their classes.

Please do show us pictures. If you need any help with how to post them, Kate has created a great tutorial/directions on posting pictures. If you need it and can't find it, give a shout and I'm sure one of us can dig it up for you.

Lola

Hi Barbara,

Greetings from a hot and sticky Ontario, Canada. I hope you are back often and you will definitely learn lots from the talented people here.

I love my Featherweight and use it often especially at retreats and classes....so easy to carry and it does a beautiful stitch. I had her fitted with a 1/4 inch foot and because she hums along so smoothly is quite accurate.

Please remember to post pictures.....we love pictures here!

Mary

First of all, I'm sorry for my double posts - I discovered that using the back button posts it again!

Lola - I will post pics when I've finished. I have the main portion of the top done now and will be adding a border next. The pattern is Yellow Brick Road, and I'm planning to do stitch in the ditch (mainly because of time constraints).

Mary - I have already learned so much from everyone here, and I have so much more to learn! I don't need much more encouragement on the Featherweight :) I think there may be preferred years or other things I should know about before I make the leap, so when I have time to research that a little more I'm sure one will be appearing in my sewing room!

Thank you all for your encouragement. I think I'll be posting some other queries in the coming days. I realized today that I should have squared up my small blocks before I joined them, so that is my first issue. I just measured and I'm about 1/8 to 1/4 off. Shall I square prior to borders? I would think so, and how best to do that? I have so much to learn, but I'm enjoying making a start!
Thanks again for the welcome and support, and I will post photos!
Barbara

Welcome Barbara!!!
I learned the hard way how important accurate cutting is and I square my blocks as I go. Making my first pieced quilt I cut my fabric wrong and I was so frustrated, but it did teach me an important lesson lol!!!
Rosa

Thank you Rosa. Yes, I've had a number of "learning experiences" already, and I'm sure more to come! Can't believe I didn't think of squaring up the blocks, but will probably not forget that step again :)
Barbara

In using various patterns, it's helpful to square up the components of a block as they are made, making sure the block will be square. A good ruler is our friend. @:)

SharonG/FL-IN

Thanks for the tip Sharon. I'm not sure how I got off track with that because I was checking measurements carefully at the beginning. I feel like I've learned a lot already but now I have a little inkling of how much I *don't* know! I see more rulers in my future :) I won't have time to work on the borders until tomorrow, but I think I'm close enough that it's not going to be noticeable.
Barbara