Harriet was here....

Harriet Hargrave, that is...

She came to speak to our quilt guild last night. She does wonderful heirloom quilting on her regular sewing machine so that it looks like hand quilting. She says that she likes to tell people that she, "hand quilts with an electric needle." She also washes her quilts in her washing machine all the time!

The quilting is just amazing!!!!

Apparently, she uses nylon thread on the quilt front and depending on how close she is quilting, she typically uses a lightweight thread in the bobbin such as Presencia or Aurifil (she says that polyester thread is wicked!).

She also told us that her backing fabric is never darker than the lightest fabric on the quilt top.

Mostly, though, she talked to us about batting. She told us that it isn't one batting type fits all quilts!!!!! Good to remember.

She gave us some questions to think about when choosing a batting for our quilts....
*do you want to use a natural or synthetic batting?
*do you want the quilt to be thick or thin?
*flat or fluffy?
*hand or machine quilting?
*how close do you plan to quilt (apparently 3 inches is the standard)?

She sells about 17 different battings at her quilt store in Denver. She recommends making a batting sample library where you try out quilting with different battings. Measure a 6 inch square on your samples and then wash them to see how much shrinkage occurs and to see how they feel after washing. She actually offers a batting sample package in her shop.

Also worth noting....
Not all battings are for wallhangings.

Don't prewash your batting.

Don't hang quilts with wool batting.


Finally, members of our guild (including moi!) made paper pieced blocks for a quilt that is being raffled off at our fall show and it looks gorgeous, doesn't it?????

My block is second from the bottom, on the far right.

And the back...

Of course, nighttime guild meetings mean I get to bed late and that means I don't wake up early..... OY! No gym this morning!!!!

Off to bed I go now!

Upstatelisa