I Spy!

It took over six months, but I finally got the I Spy quilt done for my grandson.  I gave the unfinished quilt to him for Christmas and told him I would get it finished as soon as I could. I had the quilt top done and sandwiched.  How to quilt it was my biggest obstacle.

I tried to quilt it on my DSM which sets on a table.  Since this is a full size quilt, it pulled really bad.  I got frustrated so I decided to hand quilt it.   Oh my, does hand quilting take a long, long time.  Every time I looked at it, I felt so guilty for not working on it.  I had visions of loving hand quilting...well, I don't.

So one day  I was watching a Man Sewing video Man Sewing , I can't remember which one.  Rob showed that he used an extension table for his sewing machine.   So that got me to thinking, would that help me?  I went to Sew Vac Direct and found extension tables that are custom made for each machine.  I ordered the biggest one I could.

I have to say was was impressed Sew Vac Direct's customer service.  I ordered late on a Sunday evening.  First thing Monday morning I had an email wanting clarification on my order.  We discussed what I needed and they got my order processed quickly.  Since it was custom made I expected it to take a couple of weeks.  I think I received it in just over a week.

Once I had my extension table I had no excuse not to finish the quilt.  I was nervous, but took my time, rolled the quilt and went slow.  For my first big quilt, I am happy with it.  I used my walking foot and stitched in the ditch (well, mostly). I was able to get it quilted and bound in one weekend.

The extension table worked wonders!  It made it so much easier to maneuver the quilt.  I'm not ready to free motion quilt yet, but I'll get there.  For now I'm happy with quilting with the walking foot.

I was able to give it to my grandson on Tuesday and he loved it!  We had a fun time playing I Spy all evening.  I think he already has a lot of the squares memorized. 

I had fun collecting all the different fabrics.  I bought way too much and probably have enough fabric to make two more quilts! 

Happy Sewing!

Lori