Anything Goes Quilt 'n Sew #17 - Q and A

I was overwhelmed with all the responses and positive comments I received on the quilt I've submitted to the 'Feathers Challenge' over at SewCalGal.  I cant begin to explain how much it means to me, especially because it comes from so many quilters who I look up to and hope to one day be, as good as or at least close to.

I am very much still a beginner and there are so many techniques and applications I still want to learn. What makes this journey so much more exciting is that we get to share, inspire and be admired by so many wonderful people, and I thank each and everyone for your support.  

These past few months I've had quite a few questions asked, and because I reply via email, I thought I'd share some questions and answers here with you today.

Q - Do you quilt with a longarm or home sewing machine?

A - I use a Bernina Aritista 180 sewing machine for both piecing and quilting.  It has an embroidery unit that I have only tried out a few times.  I admit that I would love to test drive a longarm quilting machine purely out of curiosity, but doubt that I will ever make a permanent change.  I love quilting on my home sewing machine, I hardly ever have any tension issues.  I can piece blocks one minute, and quilt the next with only a few adjustments.  Anyway, I doubt that I will ever be able to afford one, LOL.

Q - What type of batting do you use?

A - As you know I am from South Africa, and although many or most of the products that are available here comes from the US, some items do however differ.  I use a low loft bonded polyester woven batting called Loomtex.  I like it because its soft, warm and still falls naturally even when quilted densely, so I'm not afraid of adding small scale quilting to any of my quilts.

Q - What type of thread do use for free motion quilting?

A - Honestly, any thread I can find, LOL.  I usually use a thread called Seralon on most of my quilts.  Its 120wt poly thread, and if I understand the 'charts' correctly its the equivalent to 60wt cotton thread.  For my goddess quilt, I've used Marathon 40wt polyester embroidery thread.  I guess it all depends on what I'm quilting.  But mostly I use what I can afford or what I've learnt by trial and error to give me the least amount of thread breaks especially when travel stitching.  Anything that can withstand quilting multiple times over the exact same place works good for me.

Q - How many hours do you spend a week practicing free motion quilting?

A - Honestly, I quilt when I have something TO quilt.  So the practice I'm getting is with actual quilting.  I would usually watch videos on the internet, and as I'm watching I'll draw what I see on screen on a piece of paper.  I will repeat it a few times trying to remember what I've seen on the video, and jump right it.  

Q - What quilting classes have you taken?

A - Everything I have learnt, is via the internet.  My biggest source for free motion quilting is from Leah Day at The Free Motion Quilting Project.  She is simply amazing!  All of her videos on her website are free and the amount of quilting designs are almost limitless.  I've also signed up for a few Craftsy classes too, also by Leah Day and then Angela Walters' Free Motion Quilting With Feathers.  I would love to go for classes or join guilds in my area, but at this time with my 2 year old, it is just not possible. 

That's it for today, and please keep the comments and questions coming.  I love hearing from you!

Now it's time for this week's linky party

It's Monday and a new week, so lets all share some of our projects, please link up any current projects you've been working on, anything at all...  This link is open for a week and will run every Monday.  Remember to come back next week, or follow my blog to get regular updates.

If you wish feel free to add any other blog posts you write during the week, since this linky stays open for a full week, I think its a great idea to share and keep sharing.

All I ask is that you either add the 'Anything Goes' blog button to your sidebar or add a text link to your blog post, and comment on a few of the other links too, share the love and make this weekly link party a fun way to connect.

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Happy quilting.