Grace Z44 Quilting Frame – Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas

Hello fellow hand quilters! I believe that we are a dying breed! It takes a long time to quilt a quilt by hand, but it is rewarding! When I purchased my HQ16 (2005 – no computer driven machines at that time for novices) I had illusions of grandeur that I would love it and really learn how to do some of the beautiful work that the professional quilts do. But I will say that now I will finally really join the hand quilters of our group and quilt a quilt on my Z44!

I have been working on Dresden Plates and binding quilts – check out my previous posts to see the quilts I have completed the last 2 months! I definitely will never quit a wall hanging or a quilt on my Domestic machine! Just not for me! My shoulders hurt more than when I work on my long arm! Lesson learned that I am not a Domestic Machine quilter as I am not pleased with the outcome!

I have completed 54 (plus 3 others on another grid) Dresdens (boy am I slow) with 45 left to tack down. They go fast but I have been wearing myself out with quilting and do not feel like doing hand work each night. Where or where has my 50 year old body gone??? LOL

I will be loading A Quilter’s Dream this week on the Z44 along with my new Horn Chair! This will be the first time my frame has been used since I purchased it in 2016. I discovered that The Grace Company no longer makes this frame. Very happy I did not sell it earlier this year.

Have a great beginning of August and keep on hand quilting and hand work. Our calendar is clear except for one day to San Antonio for Clay’s last knee shot! YIPPEE!!!!

Hugs, Nanette

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piercers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Sharon, Sherrie, Karrin, Daisey, Connie,

I started the year out with 17 UFOs that I wanted to finish. I met my January goals, and looks like I will meet my February goals. I have decided to not continue with RSC 2017 this year because there are 3 quilt shows that I want to enter in 2018. They are the Dallas, New Braunfels, and Austin Texas shows. It will be nice to visit the Dallas Show so I can get a feel for the Judges and the show set up. I have shown before in NB and Austin. In order to do this I must stay focused on 4 quilts that I want to show. Three would be appliqued and hand quilted and the 4th is going to be Robin’s Nest. I could show in the San Antonio Show this year, but would need to send 2 quilts to a professional. I will ponder on this one as I have plenty of time to decide and the quilt tops are already finished! In place of the RSC 2017 project, I am going to work on the Quiltmania 2017 Mystery Quilt.

I have been in an “Indecisive” mode for a while, but finally getting over that and am making progress – more than I had last year! This last week I have caught up with Margaret Potts BAS BOM. (I am doing this post on my iPad so the pictures are not the best)

Yesterday the BAS newsletter was posted and so now I have one more block to do soon in order to stay current!

Along with catching up on Ms Potts, I wanted to finish prepping the 4 Bountiful Life blocks for applique. I have all four backgrounds traced, and two blocks ready to applique. Tomorrow I will finish selecting a few fabrics for the flowers and they will be ready for applique. When I first started appliquéing I used the “blue marker” but I had one issue and I only use a number 2 pencil to trace the pattern on the background fabric. As you can see, I do not use glue or starch, I use freezer paper and needle turn the pieces. I do not baste the pieces either. I work with glass head applique pins to keep each piece in place.

Vase Fabric – Need to finish leaf fabric pieces

One day last week I read Happy To Be Scrappy (Deb) where posted that she decided to purchase a Grace hand quilting frame. She is such a bad influence on me as a lot of Blogger’s are! LOL. I had not hand quilted a quit since 2013 and every time I read a post from another blogger who had their quilts in a quilt frame I thought about my applique quilts. I will not have them machine quilted every though there are any quilters who do.

So I went to the Grace website and fell in love with the Z44. It would be great to have a frame like this where I can adjust it in 6 different positions which would make it easier for me with my Fibro and back issues. They have a great video for the Z44 hand quilting frame. Check it out. I worked with Karla when I ordered the frame.

At first I thought I was nuts for doing this, but then realized that I wanted to enter Quilt Shows again after a 3 year hiatus and that I would need this frame for my applique quilts!

Well, this post is lengthier than I thought it would be, but I am very pleased that in the first 2 months of this year I am well on my way to catching up on projects and have a goal in mind for 2018! Now let’s see if I am able to maintain this momentum.

Have a great week all!