I’m so excited to tell you about a fantastic machine quilter I just learned about. Her name is Leah Day and she offers the most wonderful machine quilting tutorials on her blog. And the best thing is she wants to share! So below is the first quilt I’ve made using her tutorials:
This is a heart and feather wholecloth wallhanging designed by Leah Day. This was such a growing piece for me to make for many reasons. First of all, it really got me excited about making quilting a priority in my life. Second, I go to play around with many different tools and elements involved with machine quilting: marking tools, using a lightbox and experimenting with threads. Finally, it gave me the confidence that I really can quilt the heck out of something and enjoy it! The picture above is actually the back side of the quilt.
Here’s a picture of the front of the quilt showing the marks in blue washable pen. I stitched slowly enough that I was able to follow the marks accurately. The pen marks will wash out leaving nothing but beautiful quilting! This is the first time I have quilted a quilt where the back looks just as good as the front and I was able to stay on the lines the entire time.
I used a red Hoffman Batik fabric on both sides and quilted it with matching Superior Threads bottom line thread (60 weight polyester) in the top and bobbin. I used a wool batting, outlined the hearts and feathers, then microstippled between the spaces to give a “faux-trapunto” look. I took the plunge and actually buried my thread on all of my stops and starts and it really wasn’t as time consuming as I thought it would be. I used one of Leah’s hints and did NOT drop my feed-dogs while free motion quilting. Instead I covered them using a special mat called a Supreme Slider. I feel like the tension was more perfect this way.
Overall, I am thrilled with this piece and can’t wait to get to more machine quilting. It is my favorite part of making a quilt!
Leah has generously shared the pattern to make this wholecloth here on her blog:
The Free Motion Quilting Project
Be sure to also check out Leah Day’s 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting. You’ll be glad you did!
Christa Quilts 
Your quilting is WOW!
Stunning quilt. Love it.
SewCalGal
http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
Great work!
Your quilt is hypnotic! I love the colors!!
Fabulous job!
Interested to hear that you used Bottom Line too. I did because it was the only thread I had in the colour I wanted. It worked pretty well – shredded a few times, but when I changed to a topstitch needle and kept my speed down a bit, it was fine.
What a terrific quilt! I also love that shade of red. Do you remember the name of the batik or the company? I’m always on the hunt for more dark, rich, red fabric!
It looks great! I can imagine that it wasn’t always easy to see where you were going with red thread on red fabric, but it really makes the richness of the fabric colour stand out.
Its not often you find people that share their knowledge for FREE, its great that we all can learn and share our progress. I love the dark colour of the fabric you used, cant wait to see more 🙂
Lovely quilting. And I love the rich, warm red you choose.
Your quilting is beautiful and I love the fabric.
Beautiful job on your quilt, Christa! Thank you for sharing ~
I’ve been following Leah Day for quite some time and like you, find her to be an incredibly generous, kind, and valuable resource on the Internet.