Raindrop Therapy

Yesterday I finished this Bali Pops quilt with the "Raindrops" pantograph by Lisa Calle, which my customer requested. I've used this pantograph a few times before - always at the request of the customer, and not by my own choice. But from now on I think I should schedule this pantograph regularly, and I'll tell you why.

The movement in this design is nothing short of therapeutic. It flows, it's simple, and it's unfussy. The 7" row size is just right for making the curves smooth. And the interlocking nature of the design fills up more space than you might think.

Coupled with the very cooperative stitch tension of Aurifil 40 wt. on top and Aurifil 50 wt. in the bobbin, I can say that this quilt made a full day's work refreshing.

 

And just for fun, I wanted to see what a future quilt might look like with this design quilting vertically instead of horizontally:

Maybe someday!

Her backing theme was chosen by the quilt's recipient - this really nice camo fabric, which I'm sure had something to contribute to such good tension on the back:

I used #2320 on top, which is such a wonderful fawn/suede color. And in the bobbin I used #2900, which is a light khaki/green color. I used a 4.0 needle with my SPI set at 10. The only time I had an issue was when the bobbin ran low. The last 2 rows of the first bobbin were tight on the back. So with the next bobbin I removed it when it got down to the last few yards and refilled it. Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't. I never know until it's too late. Really, I should just always refill before the end of the bobbin. Just to be perfectly happy.

Up today is this blue and white sampler, which is fairly small - about 46 X 75. 

My customer has let me choose a pantograph for this quilt, so I'm planning to use a new one called "Rose Garden" by Apricot Moon.

: )