Tension Headache

Before I go on, I want to say that the cat trap is working.

She must have liked the bait.

If only Anacin could cure my tension problems, quilting would be so much easier. Nevertheless, I think I may have discovered a helpful salve in the form of the APQS website page about adjusting tension.

Are you like me in that you have to turn a map in the direction you're traveling before you can read it? More often than not, I'm navigating with the map held upside down. A similar thing happens with tension. When I spot a tension problem, I'm continually having to look up what the problem is: top thread too tight? too loose? bobbin thread too tight? too loose? I cannot remember how to fix the problem without first looking it up.

This morning I was quilting along on Eliza, congratulating myself about how good things were looking until I turned my quilt over and looked at the bottom. Oy.

This is an ongoing problem for me. When I entered my quilts in the fair this past year, that was the consistent comment of the judges: tension problems on the back.

For one thing, I need to check sooner to see how things are going, rather than waiting until I'm two miles down the road...and at that point, there's no way I'm ripping all of that out.

So to get back to the APQS website page (right here) this sentence stood out to me:

"If the top thread 'lies' on the quilt top, it's winning the thread tug of war and is pulling too hard."
That "tug of war" phrase caught my eye and it just might stick. I'm pretty good with memory hooks...like the the whole "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" thing. If I think of it as a "tug of war" that might help me remember what the problem is and how to fix it. I'm only bringing this up because I thought it might help you too. On the other hand, you might be scratching your head saying, "What the heck is she talking about?" In that case, I'll just refer you to the APQS website page. It'll all be clear as mud in no time.
Also, the website said I might have to turn the top tension a full half turn before I noticed any difference. ("Full half"...did you get that?) So I got downright assertive and really gave that tension knob a big turn. My tension problems improved significantly. By the time I did the second row of this same motif, it was looking much better. Here's a comparison of the two, but the stitching is looking so good at this point that it's almost impossible to see the stitches.

Oh yes, and about the back of this quilt? Just don't look there...I'm warning you. Think of me as the Punishing Quilter. I will smack your hand into next week. (Do not test me.)
Anyhoo...
So I finished all the quilting on this quilt this morning. Here's what I did with it:
I quilted some wood grain into the trunk of the tree.

Then, I put some Christmas presents under the tree.

I was a little stumped about what to do in the border, but then Lori Kennedy at the Inbox Jaunt favored me with this perfect "mistletoe and berries" motif in her weekly tutorial.

Her tutorial was super simple to follow. I only quilted the two rust-colored borders and left the cream strip open. In any case, if you look at Lori's motif above, you'll see that the set of two leaves alternate from left to right. I was trying to alternate them one to the right and one to the left. At first, I kept having to look back at the one I'd just finished. Then I figured out that if I said out loud to myself, "to the right...to the left...to the right...to the left" it was much easier to keep track of it. It wouldn't do to say it silently...I had to say it out loud. Whatever works, right? Anyway...here's how I did with it:

The thread is so closely matched, it's hard to see, I know. I've messed with the brightness and contrast to make it more visible, so I'm hoping you can see it. That close match is by design. Maybe one of these days I'll have enough confidence to use a contrasting thread.
Finally, I used the same "chevron" motif from the big tree to make some little Christmas trees in each of the four cornerstones.

And there it is...all finished.

Here's how it looks from the back:

Remember not to look too close.
So it still needs binding. I don't know if I'll get that finished today, but I should by tomorrow. I'm going to put a hanging sleeve on it too. When all the stitching is done, I'll affix the hot fix crystals.
And with all that quilting, I didn't disturb even one whisker on the sleeping kitty.

Today I have some housework to do, and I'm hoping to have time to make some fudge. Better get to it if I'm going to get that binding sewn on today.
It's a dark and stormy day here. How's your weather?


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