Drumroll Please....Finished Postcard from Sweden

I'm so excited to share my finished Postcard from Sweden quilt!  I'm linking up with MMMQuilts for her Postcard from Sweden QAL.  I finished on time!
I agonized and debated for a week or two on just how to quilt it.  Then I decided to try combining ruler and free motion work, based on a picture of Angela Walters' work that I saw.  I was worried it would be too busy, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  My thread is nearly invisible on the back, so it looks really good.  The front is good as long as you don't look too closely!  I swear, every time I had a big mess-up it was always in a really high-contrast area.  Oh well, I tried something new and learned quite a bit--and I did get more consistent as I went on.  I used eight bobbins on this.  I usually use 3-5 bobbins on similar sized quilts for comparison.  My fabrics are all Kona cottons for the solids and Carolyn Friedlander Widescreen for the back and Crosshatch for the binding.  Pattern is by Jeli Quilts, available as a free download on Craftsy.

I had really hoped to have the mini version done too, but I don't.  I thought I could do it on the long arm, but wasn't happy with how my lines were coming out.  So I ripped it all out and figured I'd do it with the walking foot on the regular machine.  It looks even worse.  The fabric is pulling every which way and the stitch size is very uneven.  I've tried reducing the foot pressure and making tension adjustments and it is just a mess.  More ripping in the future for me.
I thought at first my walking foot had gone bad because I'd had similar problems with it not feeding well and having really uneven stitch sizes on the last mini I tried to quilt, which I've ripped out twice.  Same issues, pulling the fabric out of square and very uneven stitch length.
Before I went in to the repair shop, I figured I'd try quilting this mini mini quilt.  It looks really good. I made zero adjustments to pressure or tension.  So it's not the foot.  Can anyone shed light on why I am having so many problems with these other two minis?  I have a Bernina 440QE if it makes any difference.
Tutorial for this block is available here.
Everything I used to quilt with the foot always came out like this.  I am so frustrated.  Please help me!
I have a few other finishes from last week.
This is Tasha Noel's Winter Wonderland quilt pattern done with her Pixie Noel fabrics.
Ugliest quilt I've ever made.  Planning to donate to a good cause.
Cross stitch pattern by Pop Goes the Needle on Etsy.
These will all be added to the 2018 finishes tab as well.

Until next week.






8 comments

  1. Wow. You have gotten so much done. It's amazing. I can't help you with the mini problem but I think the quilting on your larger quilt looks awesome.

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  2. Hi Anne-Marie, I really love the quilting, and I envy you those "S" curves - I haven't able to master that yet!

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    1. Thank you, Andree. I used the HandiQuilter Wave A ruler to put in the first curve of each line. I was unsuccessful in trying to evenly space the three lines using the ruler, so I followed (sort of) the first line with my foot to get the next two lines.

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  3. Hi Anne-Marie,
    Your Postcard quilt came out beautifully! I am sorry you are having stitching issues - I do not have a suggestion but I can sympathize with you. It sounds like you've tried everything! ~smile~ Roseanne

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    1. Roseanne, thank you. I think I'm going to take my mini quilts in to the dealer today to show them what is happening. Hopefully it's an easy and inexpensive fix!

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  4. Great finish Anne-Marie, and I gave you credit for inspiring the way I quilted mine, with a bit of added zip. :-) Thanks for linking up! I'm sure you have, but did you look at the bottom side of your walking foot? Maybe it has gotten a bit sticky or something? Or than that, I got nuttin' ha.

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    1. Thanks again for the kind words on my quilt. I have looked at my walking foot and I think it's okay, but I should probably clean the rubber things to be sure. I went in to the local shop and his suggestion was to see if the low part of the feed dogs was coming all the way up. It is, so I guess it's service time for my machine. :/ But not until after this weekend, since I have guild retreat! ha ha ha

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