The search for the appropriate fabric began. I wanted something different, not just the standard baseball fabric. It took a while but I found, what I thought were the perfect choices.
I used a pattern from the Quiltmaker website called Super Nine Patch with two solids and a pattern for the center which actually ended up being a baseball pattern. The other solids were a tan and green to represent a baseball field. The top went together very nicely. You can find the free pattern at http://www.quiltmaker.com/patterns/details.html?idx=184.
The fabric from the backing was found at a quilt shop in Effort, PA, a town near our cabin in the Poconos. I loved the vintage vibe it had for the game of baseball. It also had colors in it that complemented the colors in the front fabrics. The quilt came together very easily - until the quilting process! I wanted to machine quilt this simple quilt but was in a quandary as too how! I get the same feeling when I see very detailed instructions in quilt patterns but then the last sentence is "quilt as desired". What does that mean?
I thought I would try a straight line pattern. I was not very comfortable with free motion quilting and was still gaining confidence to even do my own quilting. It was my intention to work at that over this year. My plan was to use tape to mark off a pattern and keep it linear and simple. I pin basted the top to the backing and added the tape. Then I got busy quilting. I wasn't sure if I liked what was happening from the git-go but I kept on thinking it would get better. It didn't. i just became more frustrated.
I took it off the machine and removed some of the tape. Yuk was the only word that came to mind. I could not give this as a gift with this stitching. I put it away and took a break. I didn't even take pictures - it was that bad!
I left it for a while, but then I saw that my LQS was giving a machine quilting class over two saturdays. This was just what I needed and the timing could not be better. I signed up for the class and counted down the days.
I learned a lot during that class. I used my new-ish Bernina since I bought it at this LQS. I learned how to properly use a walking foot, which threads to use for quilting and bobbins, how to adjust the tension for different types of sewing and which needles worked best. I finished the class with a new sense of control and increased confidence. I finally felt I could do this. But first I needed to spend a few hours unstitching the stitching I had previously done! No place to do this better than in a cabin in the woods! With a glass of wine - or two!
When the stitching was all removed I deconstructed the sandwich and pressed the top and backing. I decided to spray baste the sandwich this time instead of pinning. I thought it was a good size project to try this method and I wanted to get away from pins and sore knees. The basting went well and I was pleased with how it worked with the needle.
With baseball, there is a diamond, so I decided to stitch a diamond into the center of the quilt. The borders were stitched in a linear pattern that crossed at the corners. I used my walking foot with the stitching guides. This worked very well. The last thing to do was bind it. Done, done, done! It was given to the new little guy and his parents in May. They loved it, and he loved it! I like the way you can use either side of the quilt as well!
The pictures show the quilting on the front and how it appears in the corners. I love how cross hatching works. The center picture shows the backing fabric.
I think he likes it too!
Lots of lessons learned with this small quilt!
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