Quilt Dad: orbc quilt-along Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback you've been leaving me on my last tutorial. I am so glad to hear that I've been able to help so many new quilters (and even some older, but new-to-wonky quilters!) get started on this new project. I've even heard from some of the more experienced quilters that I was able to offer a few new tips, which is great. It's been so much fun seeing all of the blocks you've been creating, and I really hope you're enjoying yourself in the process. Before moving on to today's tutorial, I wanted to take care of a few pieces of business. There are, however, two points of clarification that I want to call out here. You can also begin to introduce pieced strips to make longer usable strips out of too-short ones, a technique I'll be introducing in this post. Second, I also want to comment on fabric requirements for the quilt along. Finally, I made the block from the first tutorial into an adorable little quilted pillow for my giveaway winner. ... and trim.
Machine Quilting: Managing a Large Quilt Sandwich Question: For a year I have been learning free hand quilting by machine and I find it very difficult to move my work smoothly and with constant speed. Often my movement is blocked because the heavy quilt won't come over the edge of my working table. Can you give me some advice or suggestions where to find information about feehand machine quilting and what kind of sewing machine is best to do this kind of work. Answer: I do all my quilting on a regular size Bernina sewing machine. For large quilts I push together several tables, desks, etc. so that the entire weight of the quilt is supported on the table top. It is much easier to move the quilt under the arm of the sewing machine if it is not dragging over the edge of a table. Sometimes I spray a little silicone on the table top to make it more slippery. To get the quilt under the arm of the sewing machine, I roll, pleat stuff and drag........whatever is necessary to get to the place where I'm going to quilt.
more about strip quilts – a mini tutorial I’ve made many strip quilts in the past and I’m often asked for a pattern. I don’t really think that a pattern is necessary – one of the things I really like about strip quilts is how you can change up the look by altering your strips and fabric placement – so this little tutorial is more about my method, rather than precise instructions. But hopefully it will provide a start for those of you who may be interested in making this type of quilt. To begin, I typically select a stack of printed fabrics I want to use for my quilt. Next you’ll want to cut these fabrics into several strips, cutting selvage to selvage. [I tend to use narrower width strips of the darkest color, since I don’t want it to be what you focus on – in this quilt, I’ve used smaller strips of the dark brown solid (in yesterday’s quilt I used narrow strips of the darkest orange).] Now you’ll start to lay out the strips to find a layout you like. Now you’ll trim each of these sections. Tips: Any questions?
How to Quilt: Scrap Quilts How to Quilt>Scrap Quilts Bonnie Hunter is a quilter who specializes in scrap quilts using fabric from thrift shops or donations from friends' closets. Recently she visited with us for our Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation, and the specific topic was how to choose the garments at a thrift shop that will make great fabric for a quilt. Here is a sampling of her answers: Penny: How do you know whether a particular garment would make a good fabric for a quilt? Bonnie: I look for garments the same way I look for fabric. If it says 100% cotton, then that’s the first thing I’ll look for. The next thing I check is how the fabric feels in my hand. I look for the same kinds of things when I look for articles of clothing to cut up for fabric. Penny: You don’t use polyester? Bonnie: No, I don’t. Men’s shirts, so far, have not incorporated spandex. Penny: How do you estimate how much fabric you’ll be able to get from a particular garment? Bonnie: The size of the garment will give you an idea.
Binding Tutorial I receive many queries regarding quilt binding, specifically machine stitching the binding, and would like to clarify a few technical, but not difficult, binding matters. I almost always make continuous cross-grain binding, There are several very informative tutorials available online which are clear and easy to follow. I particularly like the instructions given by Amanda from Crazy Mom Quilts in her quilt binding tutorial which can be found here. I do have a few of my own tips, things that work well for me: To determine the length of continuous binding needed I measure the quilt top and side, multiply by two, and add at least 25 inches. I cut my binding strips 2.25 inches wide, quite narrow as I prefer the look of a narrow binding. I join the binding strips with a diagonal seam as follows: Joining binding strips end to end . By piecing strips together with a diagonal seam you avoid having too much bulk in the one spot along your binding. I join the ends together with a diagonal seam:
Garden Fence I first played with this block last Summer when I was inspired by the pillows on the cover of Martha Stewart Living. Shannon from Pieceful Quilter named it "Garden Fence" and the name stuck. Well, my top's finally done and I'm happy with the color combination of golds, yellows, grays and white. (how do you spell gray - grey or gray?) This cold weather and snow is continuing to ruin my photography, so here's the best I can do. It's a super easy quilt to make and I think it would be awesome in lots of color combinations (Gray and pink, gray and aqua...) Here are the cutting dimensions for one block that finishes at 10" (10 1/2" unfinished): Center square: 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" Outer rectangles: 4 - 2 1/2" x 3" and 4 - 2 1/2" x 5" White: 2 - 1 1/2" x 4 1/2"; 2 - 1 1/2" x 6 1/2"; and 4 - 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" To piece the block: Sew the white 4 1/2" and 6 1/2" rectangles to opposite sides of the center square.Sew the white 2 1/2" rectangles between 2 outer rectangles; add these to the center pieced square.
Aligning the Quilt Sandwich I have finished the Mini Quilt and in doing so have also prepared a simple tutorial to show you how I go about aligning a pieced quilt back with the quilt top. The back for this quilt was pieced with a horizontal strip of small squares of fabric and was at least three inches larger than the quilt top. To baste the quilt the backing was taped right side down on a hard surface. This quilt was small enough to baste on my work table, which sure makes it an easier task than on the floor. I then used a pink chalk marker to mark the center of each of the edges of the top, bottom, right side and left side of the backing fabric. This image shows where the backing, batting and quilt top were marked for both the top and LHS and RHS. The next step is to place the batting on top of the backing ensuring it is centered. Each edge of the quilt top was then also marked with its center point using a pin. Guide lines for quilting I then pin basted the quilt and commenced quilting using a walking foot.
Machine Quilting The WWQP How-To's Introduction For many quilters, machine quilting is a way to quilt those tops that seem to go together faster than they can be hand quilted. All machine quilting falls into one of two catagories, machine guided (feeddogs up) or free motion (feeddogs dropped or covered). With a few special feet, almost any sewing machine can be used for machine quilting. Equipment and Supplies Sewing Machines Any sewing machine can be used for machine quilting, but some machines may require special considerations or adaptations. Another consideration is the size of the opening between the needle and the motor of the machine. A final sewing machine consideration is the size if the machine's motor. Needles The sewing machine needle is the least expensive, but most important part of the sewing machine. Different types of thread require different needles which are engineered to form the proper stitch with the given thread. Thread Tips for Machine Quilting
Quilt in a Day - Quilt Patterns, Quilt Books, Rulers and Supplies by Eleanor Burns miteredbordersworksheet Skapligt Enkelt Fun with stripes- Quilting Tutorial Probably many of us like using strip piecing in our quilts. But how about using striped fabrics ? Instead of piecing strips use some striped fabrics... Lately I have played a little more with such fabrics and I love them. And I love even more what I can make with them. The fabric I used for this tutorial is a heavy cotton canvas from Ikea. I always prewash these fabrics because they shrink. So, what can we do with these fabrics ? ------------------------------------------------- Cut a square then cut it on both diagonals From two squares we can make two blocks like these Using 2 green squares and 2 red squares from half of the triangles we can make these 2 blocks or these ones and using the other half ( see the placement of the white stripes on these triangles) we can make one of these three blocks ( hard to choose just one ! ---------------------------------------------------- The next two methods apply for fabrics with stripes of the same width. I used this method for this quilt Geta