Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Diary of a Longarm: Month 3 - Black & White Blindness

I've working with another of Andrea's quilt tops. I was excited about this quilt because Andrea said she was over it and didn't like it anymore. All I saw was lovely white negative space and I was hopeful I could do something that might make her love this piece of work again.





I really enjoyed quilting the white areas. I learnt a lot during the quilting process. Things I should do again and things I should not.

The black areas were problematic. I found the black thread more than hard to see on the black fabrics. It was like I was quilting blind.

 
I practiced (sadly a bit blindly) lots of ideas I have wanted to try. Some of them I liked a lot and I will be using again in the future. Even after the quilt has been finished I feel like the quilting in these black areas is invisible and lost. I need to find another solution for black areas in future. If you have any insights or ideas I would love to hear from you.


A huge thank you to Andrea again for letting me practice and learn on her quilt tops!
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2 comments:

  1. debbyApril 8, 2014 at 4:33 PM

    When quilting black on black, try turning off the lights on the machine and lighting from the side. The shadows help show where you've quilted.

    If I know that I'm quilting where the stitches won't show, I either:

    1. accept it
    2. use a contrasting thread
    3. select a loftier batting so the quilting shows better.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rachael DorrApril 8, 2014 at 9:33 PM

    Thanks Debby - I'm e-mailing you separately - but your suggestions are really helpful. x

    ReplyDelete

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