Sneak Peek :: The Calling

April 8 2019,

After the quilt top was done for the king size quilt, silly me found a few pieces of the Aboriginal fabric. I don't remember why I had not used it up. At this point I started to research on the difference between regular hand quilting and big stitch quilting. If you know me, you wouldn't be surprise, because of course I never do anything without hours of research.

I realized that I should make a quilt to test out the threads. Below is my 31" x 28" sampler using the leftover fabrics. This way I can try my hand on big stitch quilting.

The batting here is polyester.

The next step was to pin in.

The pinning did not take long. 

After pinning it, I started to hand quilt with the Aurifil 12 weight thread.

I didn't get far because the thread kept on getting stuck on the pins. Back to the drawing board. I unpinned everything and basted the quilt. Because the quilt is small, I basted it haphazardly and mostly in one direction. Technically it should be in two directions, up and down, left and right.

At that moment, I had a light bulb moment. Ah - ah. That's why people don't pin their quilts! The thread gets stuck on the freakin' pin. I was taught to baste the quilts, but never knew the reason why. After 14 years, it finally occurred to me.

After researching on what thread and needle to use, I decided to buy Valdani size 8 perle cotton. I bought 6 skeins of gray. Each skein is approximately 72 yards. At this point, I have no idea how many yards I need, 6 skeins sounded good to me.Below is the Valdani thread, you can't see where the quilting is. I plan to use this thread to outline / quilt the Aboriginal fabric.

While waiting for shipment to come, my friend gave me an Aurifil 12 weight thread to try. Oh boy, did I fall in love. I should have known from the beginning, that Aurifil was not going to let me down. I had already bought the Valdani perle cotton thread. From a cost point of view the Valdani was $5.50 for 72 yards and for Aurifil, $13.00 for 356 yards, it was more economical to use the Aurifil. Below is what the big stitch quilting looks with the Aurifil thread 

Speaking of economical, I also bought DMC pearl cotton thread size 5 to test it. The cost was $1.69 for 27 yards. I just calculated it, and realize that it is the same price in terms of yardage with the Valdani. Keep in mind, that this was more readily available than the Valdani, and also when I bought the DMC one, it was not on sale.

DMC Pearl Cotton Size 5

I tried stitching a row of it and gave up. It was too thick and I did not like the look of it. I had originally wanted to try the DMC pearl cotton size 5, but the store did not have it in gray.

DMC Pearl Cotton Size 5

Back to the drawing board. The only Aurifil 12 weight thread I had was my friend's. I have tons of 50 weight thread that I have accumulated over the years, but no 12 weight. So I did some experimenting. how would 50 weight Aurifil look if I used it to hand quilt? It's not too bad. It has a delicate look to it.

For quilting in the Aurifil 50 weight, I have been using Richard Hemming & Son Large Eye Needles Sharps in Size 11. This is what I usually use to applique with. I find the length and the thinness of it to be perfect for the 50 weight. I am still testing out needle size for the Aurifil size 12 and Valdani Pearle Cotton.

Hubby prefers the 12 weight. I still debating on weight and cost. For a king size quilt, it's going to be a lot of thread. I have put in a phone call to a store and am awaiting the cost of it.

I will most likely go with Aurifil 50 weight on the gray and dark blue pieces, Valdani 8 weight on the Aboriginal fabric, Aurifil 12 weight on the orange and light blue. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Quilt & Bitch