Challenge Met

I'm pleased to announce that I completed quilt number 5 tonight. Peg's challenge really got me motivated to finish some things. The pantograph that I used is Effervescence from WillowLeaf Studios. I LOVE their pantographs. They are set up so that I don't really have to think about how to line the rows up or offset the designs. A beginner or intermediate beginner would love these designs.

Now I will stun the crowd by saying... I'm going to try to finish 3 more by July 30th. Two of the tops will be mine and one will be for my mother-in-law.

This quilt was definitely a learning experience all the way around. I think I could hear all of the comments made by the quilters that I previously hired playing in my head while working on this masterpiece. Things I heard them saying: Why can't she make something that is square? Why does the one side have so many waves? How will I ever quilt out all of this fullness? After working on this puppy, I understand why I might have been previously upcharged. I also understand why I really need to try harder to make sure everything is square.

One question I have been pondering that someone might be able to answer for me - keep in mind the technical terms probably will not be correct. Here goes... I know that I'm supposed to be able to put my fingers under the "take up bar" or the bar that I am ultimately rolling the quilt onto as I complete it. If that bar is too high and there is too much space between the machine bed and the quilt sandwich, does that cause tension issues? It dawned on me when I was almost done that I hadn't raised the rollers at all. Hmmmm, I normally raise them 2 to 3 times per quilt. I don't think I lowered the bars when I was done with my Picking and Grinning. Could that have led to my tension issues?