Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Free Motion Quilting ... with Help

Grace helps baste the quiltThe only thing Grace Hopper likes more than helping me change the bed linens is helping when I am layering and pin basting a quilt on the work table. It usually ends up looking something like this.

Grace is also a chaser of light and shadows, so as soon as she noticed the small red light coming from my camera as it auto-focused, I had no chance of getting her to look up at me and away from where she had last seen the red light.

I basted the flannel quilt on Saturday and started quilting it on Sunday.  At the end of the night, I folded it, with the pins on the inside so that neither cat (but most likely, Johnny) wouldn't try to help me remove them ...

GraceI came home from work on Monday, ready to quilt, but found myself in a stand-off with Grace, who didn't want to give up her new soft perch.  She refused to even acknowledge me, she was so insistent that I didn't need to quilt right now ...

After I displaced her, she played another game with me which involved her running to the far end of the studio, meowing up a storm until I got up to see what was wrong at which point she raced back to my sewing chair, jumped into the seat and held on tight.  Apparently, I had taken her seat and she was now taking mine ...

Some quilting did happen Monday night, in spite of the kitty antics ... at times, both cats settled into a spot on the large quilt on the table, as I worked my way across it and were irritated with me when I needed to shift things around.


Johnny helps when I'm quilting the quilt

My approach to quilting this big flannel zig-zag design is:

  1. Stitch in the ditch along the edge of the white strips (done)
  2. Quilt feathers in the white areas (done) 
  3. Switch thread color and try something new (a sort of pod shape) in the plaid squares (in progress).  
THEN, I'll figure out what to do about the borders.

I'm joining the list for WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced. What's in progress at your house: something new or are you, like me, working to finish an old project?

16 comments:

Laura said...

I love the plaids! They look great together.

Cute furry helpers too :)

Julierose said...

that is so funny about her taking your seat; our granddog 'Kota loves to do that--the minute you get up she plops herself in your seat and waits for you to ask:"'Kota, what ARE you doing in my seat??) She dies have the grace to look guilty--which is very funny from such a big doggy...looks like your quilt is coming along well, despite your helpers...hugs, Julierose

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

lovely cat but that would drive me crazy having her on quilts! love the fabric you used in that quilt.

Needled Mom said...

It sounds like a challenging quilting adventure with those helpers.

Barbara said...

Kitties are ever so helpful in all ways.

Bridget said...

Bow to your kitty masters! The weather and clouds just descended after a sunny few hours. Hope you are warm and cozy today.

I have a plaid quilt in pieces that is calling my name. Thanks for the inspiration!

Chris said...

Plaids are so comfy looking. I love them.

Kat said...

Cute cats! I love what you are doing with the quilting, the quilt looks so cozy!

Jess (a.k.a. Rosie) said...

Lovely quilt so far! I don't have cats (anymore... had to give them up due to allergies), but I know I would have been in the same boat if I still had them! Always wanted to be right where I needed to be. Lol.

~ Jess ~
Everything Is Coming Up Rosie

Terri said...

I'm not a kitty person... but with helpers like yours...

Love the quilt, and the quilting.
Hugs

Sewing Up A Storm said...

Well you need to look at this from the kitties point of view. They are trying to inspect your quilt and seem to have given it their seal of approval and now like it so much they have claimed it for theirs. That is a beautiful quilt.........I love all the plaids against the white.

No sewing here yet this year but I am cutting a kit to make another scrappy trip around the world in greens and purples and trying to straighten up the sewing room as well.

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

McGee the Worst Basset boy is the master at taking your seat. He scratches at the door and wen you get up to let him out, he settles in your warm butt hollow on the sofa!

Angie in SoCal said...

You're moving right along, Sophie, even with the help of the two. I like that shape you are doning in the plaids. Congrats on your progress! Thanks for linking to WIPs Be Gone.

Anonymous said...

And I thought MY cat (Lily) was the only one that did this! It's hard enough to FMQ a large project, but when you add a 15 pound anchor to it, it's nigh impossible.

Lily makes a beeline for the sewing room every time I head that way and burrows herself into any quilt piled behind the machine needle. She buries her head in the quilt and absolutely refuses to be coaxed out. Like you, I've learned to just laugh and work around her :)

Love your quilt- plaids are one of my favorites!

Hugs, Jo :)

Anonymous said...

Your cats are hilarious! Love what I can see of your quilting. Good for you!

joe tulips said...

Your kitties are fabulous! Mine jumped up where the new TV is. She walked behind it and stuck her head out the other end and looked around. Then she walked in front of it and sat down right in front of the screen. I thought it was funny, my husband on the other hand wasn't amused as he was trying to watch it.
Your quilting is fabulous too!

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