This is one of the hardest
things I've done with a longarm....pebbling.
Well, actually, all
backtracking is hard, especially without a stitch regulator. You see,
a pebble is made up of a circle-and-a-half. You must stitch a circle,
then stitch along part of that stitched circle to make it to the
place you begin the next pebble. With a stitch regulator, you can
slow down when backtracking the original line. Without one, you are
doomed to stitch it all at the same speed.
A pebble is a circle,
small or large, round or oblong. In this photo, the quilter has laid
a penny on the surface to show you how small the circles are...6 to 8
circles in the space of a penny! Well, it does create awesome
texture, but, really, is that necessary?!! (Quilted on a Domestic
Sewing Machine by Julie Baird.)
You should never see a
line traveling between the pebbles. The connections between them
should be invisible, right at that point where each pebble touches
another. Clear as mud, right?
This Labyrinth Walk quilt
just screams for pebbling, mainly because of the maker's use of the
Stonehenge fabric line. However, at a recent quilt show I saw this
very quilt pattern, and it was quilted with what I would call River
Rock-sized pebbles. And, if you study rocks, you will see that most
of them are not exactly circles. Ovals, oblongs, kidney shapes, and
something like a round-cornered triangle. I knew this is what I
wanted to try on this quilt. And, I love it!
Now, most of the time,
that backtracked line hits right on top of the original line, and all
is well. But, it does not take but a hairs-width of a miss to really
stand out and say “Hah, hah, hah! You missed it!” But, you must
remind yourself that when someone looks at the quilt, they are seeing
the whole of the texture that the pebbling creates, and not that one
missed line.
So, have I discovered the
secret to perfect pebbles? No, but I know I have to go at it very
slowly. Barely over the speed that I use to baste or do ruler work.
And, I have to remember to breathe! Oh, and if you have the choice, I
don't recommend pebbling large swathes of space. You will be at it
way too long!
And, while striving for
perfect pebbles is a noble goal, remember that only you will see the
imperfections so clearly.
Ring
the bells that still can ring,
forget
your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything;
that's how the
light gets in.
Leonard
Cohen
