Yesterday I auditioned the threads for my quilt. I selected 3 threads as you can see. The threads are all Glide 40wt. I wanted a contrasting thread so I could see the stitch quality. I also wanted to use Glide in the bobbin so the colour matched on both back and front of the quilt. My hope is the front and back of the quilt look as good as each other.

I finally decided on the lilac thread as I felt a subtle thread would look better and also overcome any creative quilting.
With the thread selected I moved on to quilting the major quilting lines, that is when I discovered a few tension issues as both the thread and fabric are very slippery. After trying many different tension settings, rethreading the machine, changing the needle and cleaning everything, I called Brad our local Bernina expert. Brad made a few suggestions, and also suggested a drop of oil … well I’d done that in the morning, however I tried and it and it did improve things no end but not 100%. I decided to loosen the lower tension another increment and low and behold the machine has run smoothly and has not missed a beat since.

I used the Westalee Circles on Circles ruler and the Line Tamer to anchor the major quilting lines and will use the Curved  Op Ruler for the minor lines before quilting in the fillers.

Having finished 2 UFO’s this year and completing an Australian quilt for my youngest daughter, I decided I would like to make a wholecloth quilt. Being a machine quilter this is one of my greatest passions.

I selected some beautiful shot cotton from my stash, this fabric was given to me by my friend Phil Thomas several years ago and I love it. The photograph below does not do it justice. First of all I had to mark the quilt.

I have chosen to use a repeating medallion design which I drew up myself last year with a view to making a wholecloth quilt.

You will see 2 different designs in the medallion and each will be used separately in the quilt. My goal for today was to mark and baste the quilt which I managed. My next goal is to select thread and quilt the major lines. More to follow in a few days.