The recipient of the baby quilt is due to arrive soon, so last weekend I decided to hunt for a darning foot for my sewing machine so I could finish up my first quilt project.

I’m not familiar with many sewing machine shops in the area, and I’m positive there are none that carry my specific machine (an ancient, er, vintage Necchi). So, before I left home, I did some research on the internet, took some measurements on my machine, and figured out exactly what I needed - a straight, low shank darning foot. I then headed to the shop where I’ve taken my machine to be serviced before… a shop that just happens to be next to an Ann Taylor Loft, a Nordstrom Rack, and across from a mall. Convenient, eh?

When I got to the shop, I asked the woman for “a straight, low shank darning foot.” She insisted that in order to find a foot that fit my machine properly, I’d need to bring it in to the shop. Oh, no I don’t! I asked to see all the feet that they carried in the store, and she dumped an entire bucket of unlabeled feet out onto the countertop. She had pretty much every type of sewing machine foot I’ve ever seen, and a few that I haven’t. I dug through the pile, pulled out the three darning feet that she had, and asked for a tape measure. I’m pretty sure she thought I was nuts. I started measuring the feet, and found one that fit my requirements. It was straight (the foot was directly below the screw hole), and it was a low shank foot (a half inch from the screw hole to the bottom of the foot- high shank feet have a 1 inch measurement). Perfect! But, she still didn’t want to sell it to me, because she wasn’t sure it would fit my machine and the store didn’t take returns on feet. I had to spend fifteen minutes explaining everything I knew about sewing machine feet in order to convince her that it was going to work. At that point, she practically offered me a job in the store! I guess if this lawyer thing doesn’t work out, I’ve got something to fall back on. I’d totally make an awesome sewing machine foot salesperson. Ha!

I got home and put the foot on my machine… and it was perfect!

I attempted some free motion quilting on one of my class squares. Not terrible for my first attempt. Not great either.

The back is easier to see…

I definitely need more practice before I try this on the real quilt.

And here’s a question for the quilters out there… the quilt filling: for a baby quilt would you use cotton or polyester batting? I was leaning towards cotton, but at the quilt shop they said that polyester batting can be better for babies because it won’t hold allergens. Thoughts?

Yesterday I spent some time piecing the blocks together for the baby quilt.

Laying out the blocks was the most fun part of the project… they are totally random.

I realized after sewing them together that there’s a slight lack of yellow in the upper right corner, but I’m just going to call that a design feature!

Here’s another closeup. These are such great fabrics!

I also tried my hand at actually quilting one of my blocks from quilt class. Notice how there are no pictures of it. Let’s just say that it didn’t go so well. I tried quilting the block with straight diagonal lines, but the fabric got all wonky because the feed dogs would pull too much fabric through on the bottom. I either need to get a walking foot or a darning foot for my sewing machine before I quilt this thing. I’d love to quilt this with stippling (sp?), but am hesitant to try it on a gift quilt for the first time.

Last Thursday was my second quilting class - Quilter’s University 102. The class description says “Learn strip piecing, chain piecing, basic paper piecing and more! Proper pressing techniques (not ironing!). Continued focus on accurate ¼” seams.” Sounds like good stuff to know for quilting, right? Well. The class did not cover ANY of the above items, with the exception of the ¼” seam and pressing - kind of a no-brainer.

Instead, we learned to make these:

A flying geese block. I did not know what it was called before this class (so, I guess I did learn *something*), but I did know that this is by far my least favorite, most disliked quilt block of any that I’ve ever seen. I just don’t like it. And, if I had known that this was what the class was going to consist of, frankly, I would not have wasted three hours of my time.

We also had a substitute teacher for the class. To give her some credit, she had very short notice that she’d be teaching. But, compared to the instructor we had for the first class, she was just not my style of teacher. She micromanaged everyone in the class, and never gave us a clear indication of what we were supposed to be learning or doing. The entire class was spent waiting for the teacher to come around and give us an indication of what, exactly, we were supposed to do next. It was extremely inefficient. She also expected us to have a book and other supplies that we were never told to purchase before the class. There was clearly a lack of communication between the store, the instructor, and the students.

All of this got me thinking about what makes a good crafting (knitting, quilting, etc.) class. First and foremost, I think it’s important that the activities taught in class are similar to what is described in the promotional e-mail/brochure/etc. After all, if you’re not learning at least the things that got you interested in the class in the first place, why bother? Next, I think it is extremely helpful to have a class handout. The handout should give the big picture of what will be taught, and also give details of any techniques taught. What good is a class if you can’t go home and repeat what you learned? Third, a good instructor can make the difference between a worthless class and a worthwhile one. This is kind of a crapshoot, unless you get a recommendation from someone who has taken the class and who has a similar learning style. Finally, the other students in the class can also contribute to whether or not you enjoy the class. Just one “crochety old (or young) lady” can ruin an entire class for the rest of the students. This is also a total crapshoot, as you have no control whatsoever over the other students. A good instructor can make a huge difference here, as well.

This quilting class failed on three of my four criteria - the activities taught were not anything like what I expected, there was no handout, and the instructor’s teaching style (hands on, micromanaging) was not my style at all.

What do you think makes a good crafting class?

Yet another weekend full of plans, most of which were half accomplished.

Baby quilt: Surprisingly, I got a lot accomplished on the quilt in just a few hours today. I might end up liking this quilting thing after all. It’s certainly faster than knitting.

I managed to finish all the blocks. Now, to sew them together, bind it up, and quilt. Sounds easy enough.

Entrelac socks: I’m closing in on halfway with the first sock, and am not bored yet. It’s just a matter of finding the time to work on them.

Salina: Still going… Finished the cuffs, but didn’t get a chance to seam it (see baby quilt, above).  Who knows when I’ll actually get around to seaming it.  It should probably be soon though, if I want to wear it before spring arrives.

After my first quilt class, I couldn’t help but do some web surfing. I came across the Fat Quarter Shop, where I found a kit for what is possibly the cutest baby quilt ever. (it comes in pink too!)

A good friend of mine is having her first baby, a boy, in May. I decided after knitting my first baby blanket that I would never knit one again, so this little guy is getting a quilt instead.

My kit came in the mail today…

So cute! And the pattern looks really easy.  This will give me some practice cutting and piecing before my next quilting class.

Now the big question - do I order the pink quilt kit too? At the rate my friends are having babies, one of them is bound to have a girl sooner or later (probably sooner!). And I do so love the colors in the pink kit.

Went to my first quilting class on Thursday night. The class was great, but I have mixed feelings about quilting. You see, quilting is all about precision. Or at least that’s what I got out of the first class. Precision in cutting your fabric, precision in pressing (not ironing!), precision in sewing a 1/4″ seam, etc. I find all that precision to be more than a little stressful, after spending all day drafting precisely worded documents at work. I need my hobbies to be relaxing! (knitting, anyone?)

That said, I really learned a lot in the class - both quilting and general sewing techniques. My favorite tip for sewing was to start all seams with a piece of scrap fabric, and feed in whatever you are sewing after the scrap. When the “real” sewing is done, finish the seam with another scrap of fabric. That way the fabric doesn’t get distorted at the beginning and end of the piece, and you don’t waste much thread.

I had the same problem as Ruth when sewing my 1/4″ seam. I think pretty much everyone in my class ended up using tape to mark 1/4″ rather than using a 1/4″ foot. Apparently it is difficult to make an accurate 1/4″ foot or something… Weird.

My nine patch blocks turned out pretty well, I think. They measure 6.5″, just as planned, so apparently all that precision worked in my favor.

After the class, I talked to my administrative assistant at work (she is an avid quilter) about my quilting precision-related stress. She assured me that it is possible to be accurate without being anal (her words, not mine!), and told me that the minor imperfections in a finished quilt are what give the piece character. Hmmm - I’m not so sure I can deal with that, but it’s good to hear from a seasoned veteran that perfection is not the result that all quilters are trying to achieve.

On a completely different topic, anyone going to Stitches West? I’ll be there on Friday with Lynette, and I think Angela is going to be there that day too. Anyone up for a lunch or dinner meet-up?

Starting next Thursday, I’m about to embark on another crafty adventure. I signed up for Quilter’s University at my local quilt shop. It’s a series of four classes teaching the basics of quilting.

I’m excited about it for a couple of reasons… first of all, the class is at 5:30 pm on Thursday evenings. That means that I have to leave work at 5 to make it to class on time. It’s a sad state of affairs when I have to schedule an appointment in order to get myself out of the office at a reasonable hour, but that’s just how things are these days. I’ve been wanting to learn to quilt for quite a while too, and hopefully this will be a good way to get started. Ultimately, my goal is to make a modern quilt for my bedroom.

When I signed up for the class, I also bought The Quilter’s Ultimate Visual Guide.

I’ve been browsing through it, and it looks like a great book. Like the reviews on Amazon say, it seems to cover just about everything quilt related. I don’t really like that it doesn’t cover everything in the order that the quilting is actually done though. The book is organized alphabetically, which is a bit odd. Isn’t that what the index is for? I’d like to find more of a step-by-step guide to quilting as well. Any suggestions?

My first class is next Thursday, and I’ll be sure to post an update on how it goes.