Adventures in Quilting, IV

I've had another major test of the HQ Sweet Sixteen for the past couple of days.



I was really, really hoping that it would make quilting T shirt quilts a whole lot easier than on my regular sewing machine.

And it did!  Woo-hoo!

You'll recall this T shirt quilt top.

With the start of the Florida Orchestra season looming (we start rehearsals October 10) I thought it would be a good idea to get this project wrapped up while I still have a little time.

If you've ever owned a T shirt quilt (or made one
yourself) then you already know:  because of the weight of the shirts PLUS the stabilizer that the shirts have to be fused to they are much heavier than regular cotton quilts.

Pushing the weight of this 82x86" monster through my regular sewing machine last winter was quite a challenge (see this post).



I recommend an all-over grid pattern to avoid having to turn such a heavy piece.

Well, in the end, that quilt turned out fine, and the customer was really thrilled with it-- that's the most important part!  But it did start me thinking about how to make this, and really all quilting, an easier and more efficient process.

Enter the Sweet 16 for this latest T shirt quilt project!
This was a completely different quilting experience.



You need to avoid dragging on the quilt, so I still use my ironing board to hold up the edge.

Each row of blocks received three vertical lines of quilting:  leaves at either side plus blobby flowers in the middle.  (They're blobby, but I like them.)

Think about this:  bright thread on black fabric.  A machine that's still feeling a little new and unfamiliar.  A custom order that's already been paid for.  Yeah. NO PRESSURE, right?

Well, in the end I think it came out nice.  And I will tell you the weight of this quilt was pretty much a non-issue while I was quilting it, which is a big relief.