Musical Angels Quilt Sandwich - Update

The musical angels quilt is pin basted and I've confirmed the quilt backing is laying flat with no wrinkles present.

I've rolled the sides and clipped them in anticipation of starting to machine quilt it.

I purchased Pfaff's Fabric Mover with Stitch Regulator after attending a demonstration at the Puyallup Sewing Expo last March. Prior to purchasing, I also spent about 10 to 15 minutes testing it out to ensure it was what I wanted.

The unit came with a DVD showing how to install it as well as how to use it, a foot control, stitch regulator controller, power supply, and a connector to connect the stitch regulator with my machine.

Here is a picture I took after I have installed it onto my machine.

I've been a hand quilter for years but have always wanted to learn how to machine quilt my quilting projects. I've attempted a couple of times but never successfully. When I saw a demonstration of the Fabric Mover I thought it was the answer to my problems with machine quilting.

I’m a little frustrated with my progress but not enough to give up. I’m going to make a couple more quilt sandwiches to practice on and hopefully I’ll become more comfortable with the mechanics of my technique. Perhaps, instead of using muslin to practice on I’ll go find a large scale print that I can use.

So, until I am more comfortable and confident of my machine quilting skills, I will not be quilting my musical angels quilt.

What's Happening In My Sewing Room?

Our weather is continuing to cool down and I've been taking advantage of the cooler temperatures working on pinning my musical angels quilt. But before I get to my progress, I want to talk about another block I made.

I belong to an online quilting group where are members live in western Washington. We meet for sew-ins at least once a month and partake in other activities as well. We also are very supportive of each other when someone is facing a challenge or a blessing in their life. This could range from an illness or death, to having a baby or moving. When an event such as this occurs, we traditionally work together to make a comfort or celebratory quilt for them.

Our members contribute Jake's Heart blocks and submit them to whoever volunteered to assemble the quilt. It's a simple block and goes together rather quickly. Here's a link to where you can find the instructions for assembling the block: Jake's Heart Block

I've placed two of the blocks together so you can see what they would look like. One block features the purple fabric and the other one features the green fabric. One of my favorite layouts is to assemble four blocks where you make a flower blossom. Once the quilt blocks have been assembled, it is then forwarded to another member who has volunteered to quilt it. It is then presented to the recipient. Wouldn't it be nice to receive one of these?

Here is picture of my musical angels quilt. As you can see, I've pinned a good portion of the quilt sandwich. I've also trimmed the batting around the edges to the same size as the quilt backing. Below is a close-up of the middle block.

As soon as I finish pinning the quilt sandwich I am going to audition some quilting designs and quilting thread. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have made more progress to share.