THQA 2012 Final Post!

Hard to believe it is my final post for my quilt along - it sure has been fun seeing everyones' versions. Thank-you so much for quilting along with me!

Famous last words in quilt patterns are "quilt as desired"! Deciding what to quilt can be such a hard part of quilting, so I wanted to leave you with some suggestions. It is just "my thing" to encourage people to quilt their own quilts - so I hope you will quilt it yourself. It is very "do-able" on a domestic sewing machine (DSM). 

Tips -

When you are quilting your quilts there are some things that will make it easier -

   - The type of batting you use. If your batting is stiff it will be more difficult to quilt, even if you have the best set up. Silk is the best to quilt on a DSM, but if you can't find that, wool or a very good quality cotton or cotton/polyester will be fine. I like Hobbs, but that is because that is the brand that is sold locally. Remember "Warm and Natural/White" was not developed for quilts, but for window coverings, and it is hard to quilt on a DSM - it's too stiff.

    - Having a good set up for quilting. The little plexiglass surround that so many of us have will not work for quilting a large quilt - it catches and the quilt does not move easily - extremely frustrating.

This is my old set up when I quilted large quilts. It is an old piece of countertop with a notch cut out for my sewing machine (the notch is the same as on the plexiglass surround). The legs are just pieces of 2x4's. The whole thing is on my dining room table. I have seen people make something similar with layers of the blue styrofoam insulation.

Because I sew so much I decided to invest in a cabinet this year. This one has an extension leaf at the back and a table top that can be added on the front/side (it is a Koala Cabinet).

The important thing is that the weight of the quilt is supported.

  - The right height chair will make it easier on your body.

I also place a piece of 2x4 in front of my sewing machine foot pedal to rest my heel on.

I like to pin my quilt layers together - I admit I don't use too many pins, probably every 8". I tape the backing down - don't over stretch the backing, otherwise it will bounce back and cause puckers when the tape is removed. I used flannel backing for this quilt, since it is a lap quilt. The batting is wool.

I start by Stitching In The Ditch. This is really important to secure all the layers, it will make quilting each block easier.

I only stitched in the ditch along the zig-zag rows around the blocks, and not every single seam (the above picture is the back showing the stitching in the ditch).

I use my quilting gloves to stitch in the ditch, and gently pull the seams so that the stitching will lay right along the seam line.

If you have pressed the seam allowances to one side, stitch on the side without the seam allowance underneath. I used 100Wt Invisafil thread, in a coordinating colour, for stitching in the ditch on this quilt.

This is the walking foot for my machine (I also wound a few bobbins before starting). It is important to use because it moves all the layers evenly.

I bunch the quilt around the sewing machine, making sure that the area that I am working on moves freely. There is a lot of repositioning when quilting on a DSM. Try not to let the weight of the quilt lay on top of the area you want to move - it is too heavy
Also make sure that you know what a single layer of the quilt feels like under your hands, so that you will know if an edge of the quilt is accidentally caught underneath.

On to the quilting!

Since this is a sampler quilt, I quilted quite a few different designs, hopefully you will get a few ideas.

I quilted parallel lines in some of the zig-zags using the walking foot. I moved the needle over and used the edge of the foot as a guide. All the quilting is done with 50Wt cotton thread. I used a #80 Titanium needle.

I marked the turning point for the lines before starting.

The finished zig-zags.

I quilted feathers in the alternating zig-zags. Starting with the centre spine.

Adding feathers/lobes along one side,

then the other side.

The following pictures are close ups of some of the blocks for ideas -

the half blocks are all quilted the same

The next three are all the same blocks with different versions of continuous curves.

Stencils work for the blocks too -

Here are some of my tutorials for free motion quilting -

Friendship Mini Quilt FMQ ideas
Easy Machine Quilting
Free Motion Feathers Part 1 (with video)
Feathers Part 2
Bump-Bump Feathers (with video)

I tried many different designs on this quilt, because I wanted to give you ideas, but I did repeat design elements throughout the quilt.
Quilting turns fabric into a quilt, it is your way to express your creativity - I hope you will give it a try and have fun!

If you are new to free motion quilting I recommend Continuous Curves for quilting the blocks.

the back of the quilt

I have a tutorial for the binding.

For my 50" x 70" quilt I needed six 2+1/2" strips of fabric. When I am cutting multiples of the same width of fabric I place a few layers of masking tape under my ruler at the width I need (each little strip of tape is made up of 3 or 4 layers of tape).

When I add the binding to a large quilt I don't trim it first (I always seem to catch the backing underneath when I trim first),

but I do trim the corner where I add the label. It is made from a 4" square of fabric, folded on the diagonal. I then slip stitch the fold down by hand when I stitch down the binding. I find this the easiest way to label a quilt, otherwise I never seem to get around to adding a label to a quilt.

I just use a fine Sharpie marker to label the quilt - it does last through washes.

This quilt was a joy to make, thank- you for quilting along, and thank-you to everyone for their words of encouragement! I look forward to seeing your finished quilts! ❤

THQA 2012 Quilt Settings

Now comes the fun part - what to create with all your blocks! There are links to more ideas and another layout option at the end of the post.

This is the layout I chose (thanks for telling me how to create this with EQ7 Raewyn!).
I did decide to use alternating colours for the zig-zag rows.

Here are the steps involved -

The triangles that make up the zig-zags are made from a 11+1/8" square that is cut into quarters on the diagonal. It is important to cut the triangles like this so that the rows don't have bias along the long edge
For 42" wide fabric you can get 3 squares per 11+1/8" strip. I used 4 strips of red and 3 strips of green, but I think you would only need 6 strips if all your triangles are the same (hopefully my math is correct).

The little triangles in the corners at the end of rows with whole blocks are made from a 5+7/8" square that is cut in half on the diagonal. I used 4 red squares and 2 green squares, so 6 squares if you are using one colour.

All the blocks, half blocks and setting triangles are laid out as shown in the above photo.
I have to admit that all the blocks are supposed to be trimmed to 7+1/2" squares, but not all my blocks were that big (I had a new 1/4" sewing foot that I struggled to find the "sweet spot" for, and my blocks ended up different sizes) - this layout was wonderful and I had no problem getting it all to fit. I assume it was because of the bias edges on the triangles.

Start by sewing rows.

Sew triangles to opposite sides of a block first.

It is easier to start sewing at the right angle of the triangle, because it lines up with the edges of the block.

Press the seam allowance to the triangle and trim off the little point.

With seams pressed in the opposite directions, you should be able to get nicely matched points when sewing the block and two triangle units together

Once all the rows are sewn, they are ready to be joined together. You can mark the centre of the triangle with a pin to make sure that it lines up with the corner of a block in the adjoining row - I did this at first, but found that it worked out fine all the same. I did pin the rows before sewing them together. Press the seams of the rows to one side or open the seams - whatever works for you (I prefer to press the seams to one side).

The finished quilt top! It is 50" x 70".

If you don't chose this quilt setting, there are all kinds of other possibilities of what to create with your quilt blocks. There are some ideas shown on the original quilt along post - shown here, and I made a Pinterest board with other ideas I found on Pinterest - shown here (I love Pinterest and waste a lot of time use it all the time - the pins I have are either repined from someone else, or I have asked permission to pin a picture - if there is a picture that is on one of my boards, and it is not supposed to be on Pinterest, please let me know and I will remove it.). When I was getting ready for this quilt along I couldn't find any reference pictures for zig-zag settings, I am pleased that now I have found quite a few.

Sophie asked me to try out the following setting for her fabulous blocks -

sorry Sophie that I didn't change the colour of the quilt to reflect your blocks

This quilt would work out to be about 60" x 71" - using 1" sashing, and borders that are 1.5" and 6". The above picture has sashing strips that are 1.5", and the quilt would be slightly bigger. EQ called for less that a yard of fabric for the sashing and 2 yards of fabric for the outer border (I find that EQ does tend to overestimate fabric requirements). The triangles along the edges, and the ones in the corners would be the same size as the ones in the setting I chose.

If you would like any help with measurements for a setting you would like, don't hesitate to ask me (my email is found here).

Next week I will talk about quilting your quilt. I will have a few different suggestions and some tips, plus my finished quilt.

Thanks for quilting along!❤

THQA 2012 Half Blocks

Depending on the layout you have chosen for the Quilt Along, you might need some half blocks. For the layout I have chosen I need 4 half blocks (the above picture is a rough guide of the layout). More layout ideas can be seen here.

I have chosen to make 4 - Half Nine Patches.

For one half block you will need -

Print A (mine is green) -

                          1 - 4+1/2" square, cut into four on the diagonals
                                        - you will only need three of the resulting triangles
                          1 - 2+7/8" square

Print B (mine is the brown/green print) -

                           2 -  2+7/8" squares

Remember cut accurately, scant 1/4" seams, press seams in opposite directions....

The half block will be sewn like the layout above.

Beginning by sewing the pieces into rows,

and sewing the rows together.

Finished Half Block.

All four of my half blocks.

Next week there will be more information on layouts for the blocks.

Thanks for quilting along and have a great day!❤