Wow, it’s really hard for me to believe that the last time I shared a progress update on the Space Arcade quilt was exactly a month ago. After marking the quilting plan and basting the quilt, I set it aside so I could finish the last Project Quilting challenge of the year. Then Night Garden came back from being longarm quilted, and I finished it.
Space Arcade – Quilting Progress
Since finishing Night Garden, I have been working on the straight line quilting for Space Arcade. I stared by quilting the dark blue (Kona Royal) pieced elements, then the off white (Kona Oyster). Now I’m just steadily making progress quilting the background (FreeSpirit Designer Essential Solids in Cerulean). One of the most frequently asked questions I get about marking lines with a Hera marker is, “How long do the marks last?” To be honest, the marks have always lasted for as long as I needed them to. A month after being marked, I can still see them well enough and I expect that I’ll finish the straight line quilting and switch to the free motion quilting back and forth lines sometime this week.
If you are not having the same success with your Hera marked lines, I created a video tutorial sharing my best tips for using the Hera marker.
Space Arcade – Background Thread Color Matching
It’s been a month, so you might not remember that I did not have much thread that I had color matched to the background fabric, 50wt Aurifil 2805 (Light Grey Turquoise). Before I began quilting, I pulled out my cut up Aurifil color cards and considered if there was another option. The FreeSpirit Cerulean is a very bright turquoise, and the only other Aurifil colors that seemed like they could be a possibility to me were 5005 (Bright Turquoise) and 1320 (Bright Teal). And even better, I happened to have a nearly brand new large spool of 1320.
Space Arcade – Background Thread Selection
The Aurifil 1320 appears a bit darker than the FreeSpirit Cerulean, but when quilted out, it blends in really well and and I am quite pleased to have found another option that works in my thread stash. I’m already on my third bobbin of 1320, so I know that I would not have had enough of the 2805 to quilt the straight lines, let alone the free motion quilting portion of the background that I have planned.
Space Arcade – Quilting Progress
I’m happy with my progress, and I keep telling myself that slow and steady wins the race. What are you working on this week?
As they say, time flies! Looking really good and I can’t wait to see you the finished result. Hera markers are game changers!
That is coming together nicely and how great it was that you already had thread in your stash that worked out!
You’ve made good progress on with the quilting, especially considering you’ve been finishing up other projects too.
I’m so happy you showed this with the hera marker lines still visible after a month. When you do the circular quilting are you moving the quilt around in a circle, or doing free motion quilting?
Great question, Rochelle. Everything so far has been with my walking foot, so I’m moving the quilt around in an arc / circle.
This is looking good! I’ve the same question as Rochelle – the circular quilting in the small circles – is that FMQ or walking foot?
These months do fly by! Slow and steady wins the race and you are doing great. Sometimes, with all the little bits making real progress is so slow…but you are getting there, stitch by stitch. It looks fabulous!
It’s looking SO good! Yay for finding a good thread match in your stash.