I loaded the Pineapple Blossom quilt on the frame but couldn’t decide how to quilt it. Lots of people have made this quilt so I did a Google image search to see if I could get any ideas on how to quilt it. I thought I might try a new freehand technique but it looked like most people quilted an overall meander or a pantograph. I’m not very good at using pantographs. I think it is hard to follow the lines with the laser light and my curves aren’t as smooth as they could be. I’m pretty sure this would improve with practice but I’ll often go months between panto quilts.
I bit the bullet though and ended up using Deb’s Swirls on this quilt. It’s an easy design but very pretty and I thought the curves would soften the sharp points of the design. It’s also scary to use light thread on dark fabric because every mistake shows up. It turned out pretty nice. Here’s a close up of the quilting. I’m hoping to get the binding on right away so I can hand stitch it down while watching basketball this weekend.
While quilting this quilt I listened to The Red Thread on my Ipod. It really helps to have a little distraction so I’m not thinking so hard about staying on the lines of the pantograph. This book was somewhat predictable and melodramatic but was great for quilting since I could follow the story without having to concentrate too much. It is a novel that follows several American families as they go through the process to adopt Chinese babies and several Chinese mothers who give up their daughters for American adoption. Overall it was pretty good–I would give it 4 out of 5 stars! I really like listening to books while I quilt. My local library offers them free through Overdrive Media. It’s simple to download them and you can catch up on your “reading” while quilting.
