Thoughts on My Return to Quilting

I've made several quilts since the first of the year.  Now I have the feeling like the pieces of my life are finally back in place. I had forgotten how good it feels to be creative and productive.  Spending time at my sewing machine is so relaxing.

I thought I'd tell you what I have had to relearn:

• It's good to rest your eyes and all your muscles every hour or two.
• I have had to change the thread in the bobbin to match the thread used in the top of the machine. This is a basic fact that I had forgotten.
• After filling a bobbin with The Bottom Line, there was nothing I could do to get a balanced stitch.  It turns out, the two halves of the bobbin were cracking apart, and no longer fit in the bobbin case. This was a mess!
• Because of all the straight lines between the triangles, I used my built in even feed foot to quilt in the ditch with monofilament in the top and bobbin.  Wow, this was really slick.

Something new, I used the new large clear plastic disc on my darning foot.  This was a great help when free-motion quilting around all the lumpy seams.  I've had this piece for years, but never used it. See the photo in this old blog about darning feet. 

Stripes and Triangles, a quilt by Ann Fahl, 51 x 52 inches

A more detailed description and more photos of the above quilt is on my website. 

Happy Quilting to you.
  Ann Fahl