Grandmothers flower garden

I have a guestion for yall. I have seen several Grandmother Flower
Garden quilts and they were always hand quilted. I have a lady from
church that wants me to quilt one her mother made in the 70's (yes out
of double knit). I told her I do not hand quilt only machine quilt.
She still wants me to do it because as she says it is doing me no good
as it is. This is a sweet lady who is herself at least 80 years old
so I do want to accomodate her desire to have the quilt completed. The
question is do I just try to quilt in the ditch on the hexagons or a
1/4 inch inside or what?

Thanks for any help.
Suzzett
www.suzzettsfabric.com

A 1/4 in. inside each piece would be a humongous amount of stopping and
starting and knotting, wouldn't it? Yikes! Horribly slow and time
consuming. And quilting in the ditch.... I would guess that the
intersections won't be perfectly matched, so you'd be ducking and dodging
all over the place trying to follow the ditch. I think I would do some kind
of all over pattern. Not necessarily a pantograph (but that would work,
too) but some vines- feathered or with leaves- or stippling or whatever.

One possibility- what I saw a lady with a Gammill doing- she was following
the seam lines but rather than stitch in the ditch due to imperfectly
matched intersections she did a snaky, shallow, gentle 'S' line over all the
seam lines. That way she could go right over the intersections which were
almost an inch off in places. But the double knit is prolly quite thick and
the seams would be terribly bulky to sew thru and you'd chance skipped
stitches. I think I just talked myself out of this! LOL

And then it will need binding... I think I'd do a pillow turn rather than
mess with all those miters to follow the edge with binding it. This quilt
top may have great sentimental value, but it's really not worth the amount
of work it's going to need to finish it.... in my not so humble opinion.

Good luck.... I think you may need it. :-/

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

"SuzzettsFabric" wrote in message
...
I have a guestion for yall. I have seen several Grandmother Flower
Garden quilts and they were always hand quilted. I have a lady from
church that wants me to quilt one her mother made in the 70's (yes out
of double knit). I told her I do not hand quilt only machine quilt.
She still wants me to do it because as she says it is doing me no good
as it is. This is a sweet lady who is herself at least 80 years old
so I do want to accomodate her desire to have the quilt completed. The
question is do I just try to quilt in the ditch on the hexagons or a
1/4 inch inside or what?

Thanks for any help.
Suzzett
www.suzzettsfabric.com

I've been there too. A quilt top that looked great on ebay was just
like Leslie described - intersections off, some seams too thick to believe.
I tried the logical quilting manner and dismally failed. That quilt wound
up in a hurricane shelter and was clean and warm but it surely wasn't worth
stealing.
Leslie's right - a gentle stippling or perhaps vines and feathers is
about the only way. Because of the quilt's sentimental value, the top is
worth finishing and I join in wishing you well. Polly

"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." wrote in message
...
A 1/4 in. inside each piece would be a humongous amount of stopping and
starting and knotting, wouldn't it? Yikes! Horribly slow and time
consuming. And quilting in the ditch.... I would guess that the
intersections won't be perfectly matched, so you'd be ducking and dodging
all over the place trying to follow the ditch. I think I would do some
kind of all over pattern. Not necessarily a pantograph (but that would
work, too) but some vines- feathered or with leaves- or stippling or
whatever.

One possibility- what I saw a lady with a Gammill doing- she was following
the seam lines but rather than stitch in the ditch due to imperfectly
matched intersections she did a snaky, shallow, gentle 'S' line over all
the seam lines. That way she could go right over the intersections which
were almost an inch off in places. But the double knit is prolly quite
thick and the seams would be terribly bulky to sew thru and you'd chance
skipped stitches. I think I just talked myself out of this! LOL

And then it will need binding... I think I'd do a pillow turn rather than
mess with all those miters to follow the edge with binding it. This quilt
top may have great sentimental value, but it's really not worth the amount
of work it's going to need to finish it.... in my not so humble opinion.

Good luck.... I think you may need it. :-/

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

"SuzzettsFabric" wrote in message
...
I have a guestion for yall. I have seen several Grandmother Flower
Garden quilts and they were always hand quilted. I have a lady from
church that wants me to quilt one her mother made in the 70's (yes out
of double knit). I told her I do not hand quilt only machine quilt.
She still wants me to do it because as she says it is doing me no good
as it is. This is a sweet lady who is herself at least 80 years old
so I do want to accomodate her desire to have the quilt completed. The
question is do I just try to quilt in the ditch on the hexagons or a
1/4 inch inside or what?

Thanks for any help.
Suzzett
www.suzzettsfabric.com

Howdy!

Double-knit? Well, then, quilt thru' the centers of
the pieces, in hexagonal circles.
Referring to this example
http://www.quilterscache.com/G/Grand...rdenBlock.html
a small hexagon outline in the blue inner row;
another, larger hexagon outline in the green row,
then an overlapping hexagon outline in the connecting (white) rows,
overlapping sometimes because the white goes around all the "gardens".
The hexagon outlines will enhance the pattern, no need to do fiddly
little quilting inside each tiny hexagon piece.
D-k is tough fabric, this will be a tough quilt. And perfect for
machine quilting. g

R/Sandy -- handquilter ;-)



On 12/28/07 9:11 PM, in article
,
"SuzzettsFabric" wrote:

I have a guestion for yall. I have seen several Grandmother Flower
Garden quilts and they were always hand quilted. I have a lady from
church that wants me to quilt one her mother made in the 70's (yes out
of double knit). I told her I do not hand quilt only machine quilt.
She still wants me to do it because as she says it is doing me no good
as it is. This is a sweet lady who is herself at least 80 years old
so I do want to accomodate her desire to have the quilt completed. The
question is do I just try to quilt in the ditch on the hexagons or a
1/4 inch inside or what?

Thanks for any help.
Suzzett
www.suzzettsfabric.com

I don't know how old you are or through which decades you have been sewing
but I well remember sewing a lot on that double knit polyester. You've
garnered some excellent information on the techniques you might use for the
quilting but the one thing that hasn't been brought up is the needle on your
machine.

I went through a bucket of sweat, tears and mumbled bad words with both my
1940 Singer and my "brand new", at that time, Viking that did not sew at all
well on that *new* fabric. The sewing machine repairman who came to my house
to "fix" my machines (yes, once upon a time dear, long, long ago, on a
galaxy far away, sewing machine repairmen DID make house calls) looked at
the garment with all the skipped stitches and pulled out some packs of ball
point needles, put them in my machines, and solved the problem. He was kind
enough to explain the reasons why this worked before he left....then he
saddled up his dinosaur and rode off to his next house call.

You just might want to put a Ball Point needle in your machine instead of a
'Universal' or 'Sharp' before you start your machine quilting. The Universal
needle, with it's more rounded point, just may skip stitches. The thicker
the layers the more likely you'll get skipped stitches since the needle can
hit a fiber and just 'bounce back' instead of going through and looping into
the bobbin thread. The Sharp can snag or actually pierce the fibers and fray
or break them causing runs and/or holes in the fabric. I don't know how big
the quilt is but you might also want to change your needle often since this
tougher than Kevlar fabric has a tendency to put burs on even a Ball Point
needle after a relatively short time and this can cause more skipped
stitches and runs and snags. I also don't know how much cutting you'll be
doing to finish the project but that old double knit polyester was infamous
for rapidly dulling scissors, probably now also doing the same to a roller
blade. You can get away with cutting cotton with marginally dull blades but
that 1970's miracle fabric will fight you. Just a little heads up info.

Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make them
all yourself,
Val


"SuzzettsFabric" wrote in message
...
I have a guestion for yall. I have seen several Grandmother Flower
Garden quilts and they were always hand quilted. I have a lady from
church that wants me to quilt one her mother made in the 70's (yes out
of double knit). I told her I do not hand quilt only machine quilt.
She still wants me to do it because as she says it is doing me no good
as it is. This is a sweet lady who is herself at least 80 years old
so I do want to accomodate her desire to have the quilt completed. The
question is do I just try to quilt in the ditch on the hexagons or a
1/4 inch inside or what?

Thanks for any help.
Suzzett
www.suzzettsfabric.com

We might as well get Suzzett going with the right thread too. Do you think
just ordinary Coats & Clark cotton/polyester would be best or something
else? What about the bobbin? Polly
"Val" wrote in message
...
I don't know how old you are or through which decades you have been sewing
but I well remember sewing a lot on that double knit polyester. You've
garnered some excellent information on the techniques you might use for the
quilting but the one thing that hasn't been brought up is the needle on
your machine.

I went through a bucket of sweat, tears and mumbled bad words with both my
1940 Singer and my "brand new", at that time, Viking that did not sew at
all well on that *new* fabric. The sewing machine repairman who came to my
house to "fix" my machines (yes, once upon a time dear, long, long ago, on
a galaxy far away, sewing machine repairmen DID make house calls) looked
at the garment with all the skipped stitches and pulled out some packs of
ball point needles, put them in my machines, and solved the problem. He
was kind enough to explain the reasons why this worked before he
left....then he saddled up his dinosaur and rode off to his next house
call.

You just might want to put a Ball Point needle in your machine instead of
a 'Universal' or 'Sharp' before you start your machine quilting. The
Universal needle, with it's more rounded point, just may skip stitches.
The thicker the layers the more likely you'll get skipped stitches since
the needle can hit a fiber and just 'bounce back' instead of going through
and looping into the bobbin thread. The Sharp can snag or actually pierce
the fibers and fray or break them causing runs and/or holes in the fabric.
I don't know how big the quilt is but you might also want to change your
needle often since this tougher than Kevlar fabric has a tendency to put
burs on even a Ball Point needle after a relatively short time and this
can cause more skipped stitches and runs and snags. I also don't know how
much cutting you'll be doing to finish the project but that old double
knit polyester was infamous for rapidly dulling scissors, probably now
also doing the same to a roller blade. You can get away with cutting
cotton with marginally dull blades but that 1970's miracle fabric will
fight you. Just a little heads up info.

Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make them
all yourself,
Val

I'd agree with you that good ol' C&C cotton/polyester, upper and lower would
do the trick. As long as she has a cotton or non stretchy backing she
wouldn't have to worry about the thread breaking from the top stretching too
much on the finished quilt.

Val

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
We might as well get Suzzett going with the right thread too. Do you
think just ordinary Coats & Clark cotton/polyester would be best or
something else? What about the bobbin? Polly
"Val" wrote in message
...
I don't know how old you are or through which decades you have been sewing
but I well remember sewing a lot on that double knit polyester. You've
garnered some excellent information on the techniques you might use for
the quilting but the one thing that hasn't been brought up is the needle
on your machine.

I went through a bucket of sweat, tears and mumbled bad words with both
my 1940 Singer and my "brand new", at that time, Viking that did not sew
at all well on that *new* fabric. The sewing machine repairman who came
to my house to "fix" my machines (yes, once upon a time dear, long, long
ago, on a galaxy far away, sewing machine repairmen DID make house calls)
looked at the garment with all the skipped stitches and pulled out some
packs of ball point needles, put them in my machines, and solved the
problem. He was kind enough to explain the reasons why this worked before
he left....then he saddled up his dinosaur and rode off to his next house
call.

You just might want to put a Ball Point needle in your machine instead of
a 'Universal' or 'Sharp' before you start your machine quilting. The
Universal needle, with it's more rounded point, just may skip stitches.
The thicker the layers the more likely you'll get skipped stitches since
the needle can hit a fiber and just 'bounce back' instead of going
through and looping into the bobbin thread. The Sharp can snag or
actually pierce the fibers and fray or break them causing runs and/or
holes in the fabric. I don't know how big the quilt is but you might also
want to change your needle often since this tougher than Kevlar fabric
has a tendency to put burs on even a Ball Point needle after a relatively
short time and this can cause more skipped stitches and runs and snags. I
also don't know how much cutting you'll be doing to finish the project
but that old double knit polyester was infamous for rapidly dulling
scissors, probably now also doing the same to a roller blade. You can get
away with cutting cotton with marginally dull blades but that 1970's
miracle fabric will fight you. Just a little heads up info.

Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make
them all yourself,
Val

On Dec 29, 9:56*am, "Val" wrote:
I'd agree with you that good ol' C&C cotton/polyester, upper and lower would
do the trick. As long as she has a cotton or non stretchy backing she
wouldn't have to worry about the thread breaking from the top stretching too
much on the finished quilt.

Val

"Polly Esther" wrote in message

...



We might as well get Suzzett going with the right thread too. *Do you
think just ordinary Coats & Clark cotton/polyester would be best or
something else? *What about the bobbin? *Polly
"Val" wrote in message
...
I don't know how old you are or through which decades you have been sewing
but I well remember sewing a lot on that double knit polyester. You've
garnered some excellent information on the techniques you might use for
the quilting but the one thing that hasn't been brought up is the needle
on your machine.

I went through a bucket of sweat, tears and mumbled bad words with both
my 1940 Singer and my "brand new", at that time, Viking that did not sew
at all well on that *new* fabric. The sewing machine repairman who came
to my house to "fix" my machines (yes, once upon a time dear, long, long
ago, on a galaxy far away, sewing machine repairmen DID make house calls)
looked at the garment with all the skipped stitches and pulled out some
packs of ball point needles, put them in my machines, and solved the
problem. He was kind enough to explain the reasons why this worked before
he left....then he saddled up his dinosaur and rode off to his next house
call.

You just might want to put a Ball Point needle in your machine instead of
a 'Universal' or 'Sharp' before you start your machine quilting. The
Universal needle, with it's more rounded point, just may skip stitches.
The thicker the layers the more likely you'll get skipped stitches since
the needle can hit a fiber and just 'bounce back' instead of going
through and looping into the bobbin thread. The Sharp can snag or
actually pierce the fibers and fray or break them causing runs and/or
holes in the fabric. I don't know how big the quilt is but you might also
want to change your needle often since this tougher than Kevlar fabric
has a tendency to put burs on even a Ball Point needle after a relatively
short time and this can cause more skipped stitches and runs and snags. I
also don't know how much cutting you'll be doing to finish the project
but that old double knit polyester was infamous for rapidly dulling
scissors, probably now also doing the same to a roller blade. You can get
away with cutting cotton with marginally dull blades but that 1970's
miracle fabric will fight you. *Just a little heads up info.

Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make
them all yourself,
Val- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

WOW you all are a wealth of information. I think I am going to have
to find some old scrap of doubleknit to practice on.
Thanks a bunch.

Suz

That sounds like the perfect answer...

You are good, girl!!!

--
Kate in MI
http://community.webshots.com/user/K_Groves


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Sandy Ellison" wrote in message
...
Howdy!

Double-knit? Well, then, quilt thru' the centers of
the pieces, in hexagonal circles.
Referring to this example
http://www.quilterscache.com/G/Grand...rdenBlock.html
a small hexagon outline in the blue inner row;
another, larger hexagon outline in the green row,
then an overlapping hexagon outline in the connecting (white) rows,
overlapping sometimes because the white goes around all the "gardens".
The hexagon outlines will enhance the pattern, no need to do fiddly
little quilting inside each tiny hexagon piece.
D-k is tough fabric, this will be a tough quilt. And perfect for
machine quilting. g

R/Sandy -- handquilter ;-)



On 12/28/07 9:11 PM, in article
,
"SuzzettsFabric" wrote:

I have a guestion for yall. I have seen several Grandmother Flower
Garden quilts and they were always hand quilted. I have a lady from
church that wants me to quilt one her mother made in the 70's (yes out
of double knit). I told her I do not hand quilt only machine quilt.
She still wants me to do it because as she says it is doing me no good
as it is. This is a sweet lady who is herself at least 80 years old
so I do want to accomodate her desire to have the quilt completed. The
question is do I just try to quilt in the ditch on the hexagons or a
1/4 inch inside or what?

Thanks for any help.
Suzzett
www.suzzettsfabric.com

Finding yardage of polyester double knit might not be easy. (Unless, of
course, you have access to a closet like my DH's. I expect he has an old
leisure suit as well as his Cub Scout uniform. Never know when he might
need them.) Polly


"SuzzettsFabric" wroteWOW you all are a wealth of information. I think I
am going to have
to find some old scrap of doubleknit to practice on.
Thanks a bunch.