apqs millennium

LAL#3: The One Where Rebecca Finally Finishes a Quilt, but Doesn't Love It Anymore from Cheeky Cognoscenti

Happy Tuesday, friends! Welcome to another Long Arm Learning linky party! I actually have a finished (long arm quilted) quilt to share with you today, my FIRST finished quilt of 2020 -- and yes, I do know how pathetic that is to be finishing my first quilt of the year in mid-August. My Sermon Scribbles quilt is FINISHED, as in quilted, labeled, bound, washed, and photographed!

I started piecing this in November of last year, and loaded it on my frame for quilting in April, just as this crazy pandemic lockdown was settling in. From beginning to end, this silly quilt ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 4 months ago. under airplane block , apqs millennium , batting , birds in the air , long arm learning , long arm quilting , quilting , quilting with rulers , sermon scribbles , spirit song quilt , superior threads

Tuesday To-Do List: Finish All the Stuff I Didn't Get Done Last Week from Cheeky Cognoscenti

Good morning and Happy Tuesday! My post for today's Long Arm Linky party got awfully long, so I thought it would be best to put my To Do's and Ta-Done's in a separate post this week. Without further ado:

Last Week's To-Do List:

~~Stay on top of the linky party and continue to spread the word to other machine quilters. Get the linky post written and scheduled to publish in advance.~~

Finish the three remaining in-progress blocks for my MMBB quilt before I clear off my cutting table.

Trim excess batting & backing from Spirit Song

~~Digitize ...~~

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 4 months ago. under apqs , apqs millennium , moda modern building blocks , quilt labels , quilting , quilting with rulers

LAL#2: The One Where Thoroughly Modern Millie Gets a Little Work Done from Cheeky Cognoscenti

It's Tuesday again, and time for another round of Long Arm Learning. We had thirteen quilters linking up with us last week for our very first linky party, quilters ranging from brand-new beginners to seasoned professional long arm quilters, just as I'd hoped. I enjoyed checking out each one of your links, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to share again this week. Remember that the Long Arm Learning linky party stays open from Tuesday morning all the way through midnight on Friday, so if your post isn't ready just yet, you still ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 4 months ago. under apqs millennium , long arm learning , longarm machine

Tuesday's To-Do List: Quilty Goals for the Upcoming Week from Cheeky Cognoscenti

Good morning and Happy Tuesday! Here's the view from my studio this morning:

Just to recap (and to keep myself honest!), these were the weekly goals I set for myself last Tuesday:

Last Tuesday's Weekly To-Do List:

~~Write and schedule publication of my first linky party post for next Tuesday~~
~~Continue to spread the word about the new linky party~~
Trim excess batting & backing from Spirit Song
Digitize, machine embroider, & hand stitch Spirit Song label to back of quilt
Make binding for Spirit Song, machine stitch to front of quilt, & begin hand stitching binding to the backing

Hmmm ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 4 months ago. under apqs , apqs millennium , beware the ishmaelites , machine accessories , moda modern building blocks , paper piecing

Sunday Spirit Song Quilting from Cheeky Cognoscenti

Background quilting is coming along on Spirit Song! I'm now about 25% of the way finished, and I'm learning a lot along the way. For instance, I quilted the wrong fill pattern in several patches while I was talking to a friend on the phone, but I'm leaving it because I doubt I could rip out such dense stitches without ripping the quilt fabric, and probably no one but me will notice in the finished quilt. I am enjoying seeing how the quilting designs transform the flat, smooth surface of the quilt top with an "embossed" texture ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 5 months ago. under apqs millennium , bottom line , free motion quilting , long arm quilting , so fine , spirit song quilt , superior thread

Always Gonna Be an Uphill Mountain; Always Gonna Wanna Make It Move: Of Small Victories in Custom Quilting from Cheeky Cognoscenti

I finished the background quilting in the first row of 4" blocks and moved down to the second and third rows yesterday. This is VERY slow going, and I'm so glad I bought that adjustable height saddle stool on Amazon so I can sit at my long arm frame while I work on the tedious background fill quilting. I've been using the stool when I need to unpick stitches with a seam ripper, too -- but hopefully there won't be any more of that with this quilt! Hope I didn't just jinx myself!!

It's so exciting ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 5 months ago. under apqs millennium , directional tension , long arm quilting , rottweilers , spirit song quilt , tension trouble , towa bobbin tension gauge

Spirit Song Progress: Blue HSTs Nearing Completion + Tentative Plan for Background Fillers from Cheeky Cognoscenti

Good morning, and Happy Thursday! I have been doing a pretty good job of squeezing in at least an hour or two at my long arm machine each day, so my Spirit Song quilting is progressing.

I am starting to really enjoy this little motif in my little blue HSTs that I think of as a "lollipop flower." Of course, the first couple I quilted didn't look this cute, but every time I start a new design I see it progress from "Oh, ick" to "maybe it's okay from a distance" to "meh" to "hey, NOW it's ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 5 months ago. under apqs millennium , aqs quilt week , lisa calle , long arm quilting , quilt design , quilting , quilting with rulers , rulers

One (Or Two) Monthly Goals for July: Finish Quilting Spirit Song + Launch New Long Arm Learning Linky Party from Cheeky Cognoscenti

Can you believe that the year 2020 is officially half over already? My brain is still stuck back in February, before the whole world came to a screeching halt and we all woke up at the Mad Hatter's tea party with Alice in Wonderland...

I know the whole idea of the OMG "One Monthly Goal" linky party is to focus on ONE main goal for the month, but I have two for July. One of them is a quilting goal, and the other one is a blogging goal. And the two goals are interrelated, with the blogging goal supporting ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 5 months ago. under apqs millennium , free motion quilting , free spirit , goals , long arm quilting , one monthly goal

Happy Birthday to Me! 47 Is Gonna Be My Year of Fearless Free-Motion and Ruler Work Quilting from Cheeky Cognoscenti

I am finally having fun with free motion quilting on my long arm machine! Yay! The chalk pounce stenciling is imperfect, as it smudges and disappears while I'm quilting, but all I really need is a vague guide anyway for spacing and the angle of the curls. If I mark just one motif with chalk at a time and then quilt it right away, it serves its purpose -- and I have zero fear that the chalk won't come out of my quilt, since it's all bouncing right off the quilt without settling into the fibers in the ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 6 months ago. under apqs millennium , batting , diy stencils , free motion quilting , handiquilter , long arm quilting , marking , quilter's groove rulers , quilting with rulers , spirit song quilt

The Tension Wrecker Apprehended: Pigtail Guide on M-Class Bobbin Case Increases Bobbin Tension! from Cheeky Cognoscenti

Good morning, friends, and happy Sunday! I've just returned from "Drive By Communion" in my church parking lot! I kid you not -- Crazy times. We watched the live streamed worship online this morning as usual (or, as has BECOME usual since early March), but this is the first Sunday since early March that they've offered in-person communion in the parking lot, served by masked and gloved pastors. We are blessed at Christ Lutheran with church leadership that is faithful, creative, and prudent. We didn't see a lot of cars when we went for Drive-By communion following the ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 7 months ago. under apqs , apqs millennium , batting , christ lutheran church , face masks , frankenwhiggish rose , hand applique , jamie wallen , long arm quilting , m bobbin , tension trouble

Spirit Song Ruler Work and Free Motion Fills from Cheeky Cognoscenti

And the beat goes on... Here's what I accomplished in my studio after dinner last night:

Quilting Progress as of Last Night

I'm feeling a little better about it than I was a few days ago. As you can see in the photo above, I decided to fill in every other rectangle in that "piano keys" design with bacd-and-forth scribbles. That makes my diagonally oriented quilting design stand out more, like I wanted, and I'm also finding that I like the way the 50 weight So Fine thread looks better when the quilting stitches are denser rather ...

added by Rebecca Grace 4 years, 7 months ago. under apqs millennium , free motion quilting , long arm quilting , quilt glide , quilter's groove rulers , quilting with rulers , spirit song quilt

What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Last Week's To-Do List:

Last Tuesday's Weekly To-Do List: