July 21, 2010

Nouveau Gingko

This is Linda's pretty Chinese Coin quilt. I finished this quilt using a pantograph. "Nouveau Gingko" by Kathie James. It's sort of a blend between a beautiful Gingko tree leaf design and a baptist fan. Nice texture. I found the lower arc which is about 10" inches across and just below the two leaves quite difficult to keep smooth and even. Even at the last roll of the quilt I was still struggling with this long sweeping arc effect. I liked doing the leaves though, so I'm thinking about remarking the panto somehow with my sharpie pen to eliminate at least one of the two sweeping motions of that particular part of the design, and if I attempt this quilting design again, just do the leaf portion by hopping over to the next leaf. (click pic. to enlarge)
Details: Linda provided the Mountain Mist 100% Polyester batting. I used Superior So-Fine lavender colored thread top and bobbin.

4 comments:

Shelley: the Dread Pirate Rodgers said...

What a great quilt! I've been eye-balling that Chinese Coin layout for some time. Perhaps one of these days I might even get around to doing it. :-)

I have also found that free-motion curves, such as those in the design you used, are *very* difficult to stitch smoothly and evenly. My first Baptist Fan was done free-motion and it was *very* shakey.

I have decided that since using a template produces such nice curves, I'll be using templates for curves when I can, eventhough template use slows you down. The resulting visual beauty pleases me much better than being able to get through a quilt quickly.

If you ever try this quilting design free-motion, you might try templates for the curve. To be sure, you won't get the quilting done as fast as when you used the pantograph BUT the curves will be a whole lot nicer!

OR .. you can just practice some more until you get better at the free-motion curves. :-)

Purple Pam said...

Pretty quilt - love that purple! Your quilting design is a different one for you. Smooth curves are difficult for me. too, unless my machine is running a mile a minute! When quilting on my home machine, I cannot go too far when I go a mile a minute without moving the quilt. I find it much easier on a long arm machine. I wish I had a long arm of my own. I rent one at a quilt store when I can.

Mary Johnson said...

I have her improved Clamshell template and the curves are probably smaller but I like that one.

I think curves can be the most challenging and of course the larger they get the harder it is to keep them smooth. Did you ever figure out whether there was a problem with your track?

Rebecca said...

Love your purple quilt, that would look good in my sun porch..lol
Rebcca