Lil Rascals Charm Pack Quilt Part 2 – Machine Quilting

June 21, 2012February 16, 20156 Comments

Last Thursday I posted instructions on how to make this cute Li’l Rascals quilt top from just one charm pack and a yard of coordinating fabric.

If you are following along, feel free to post comments or ask questions about the project and I’ll do my best to answer!

This week I am working on machine quilting the 9 patch blocks with a free-motion wavy plaid design. Next Thursday, I’ll blog about marking and quilting the borders and sashing with a stencil.

I was really excited about doing something different with this quilt. I have stippled myself silly over the last 4-5 years and I’m ready to move on to new textures and designs.

I was inspired by Leah Day’s Loose Weave quilting from her Daisy to Paisley book of free motion fillers. I stitched out a practice sample on scrap fabric, then set to work on my quilt.

The long wiggly lines were easy to quilt without marking. My design is called “Wavy Plaid.”

First, I quilted long slightly wavy lines down the length of each 9-patch block. I used a thin polyester thread that seemed to blend in with most of the fabrics. I wanted the texture to show, not the thread! I quilted 4 sets of double rows per block and kept them sort of even.

Next, I quilted the same type of wavy lines going across the width of the blocks. I did have to rotate my quilt so that I was quilting either up or down the quilt the entire time. When I tried to quilt from side to side, my thread kept breaking.

I love the freedom this design gave me. Nothing had to be perfect and the quilting added lots of gorgeous texture!

To create the double lines, I quilted an echo outline with my free-motion foot, using the edge as my guide.

I dropped the feed dogs on my machine, used a Supreme Slider underneath the quilt to help it slide around smoothly, and stitched while wearing Machingers Quilting Gloves. The right tools make all the difference!

By the way, in case in case you need it, here are links to my mini-tutorials on pin basting, and sewing a pieced backing.

Machine Quilting – Sharp Wavy Stippling

June 6, 2012March 19, 20134 Comments

My Summer House charm pack quilt is finally finished! Well, it’s not mine anymore – I gave it to my sister in law for her new baby girl due this summer. Cresen is very lucky because I made her 2 quilts in one year! I finally made her wedding quilt this spring, although she’s been married for a couple of years now. You can see pictures of her wedding quilt here.

Be sure to click on the pictures below for closeups of the front and back of this cute quilt.

I was really pleased with how the machine quilting turned out on this quilt. I tried some new tools that really made the process much easier.

First, I attached a Supreme Slider to the bed of my sewing machine. This thick slippery plastic material reduces the friction on the bottom side of the quilt and significantly improves the whole free-motion quilting process. With less drag, it’s much easier to glide the quilt around and get good quality stitches.

Next, I used a pair of Machingers machine quilting gloves. They are very comfortable and I can even thread the machine while wearing them.

They gave me a better grip on the quilt. Pushing the bulk of the quilt through the bed of the machine was much easier, too, making the whole experience more enjoyable.

I wanted to try another version of stippling – sharp wavy stippling, inspired by Leah Day’s free-motion quilting project. Instead of doing a simple meander, I quilted wavy lines, ending in a point and coming back down. I also used more of a contrasting thread so you can see it.

This was the first time I free-motion quilted in an orderly fashion – stitching one block at a time – then moving onto the next block in rows (rather than randomly every which way all over the quilt). I like the progress I made and the interesting texture. It reminds me of flames or waves, depending on which way you look at it. See above and below for closeups.

I like branching out with my machine quilting. I’m happy drawing and quilting marked lines, but the random n0-mark free-motion fillers give me more flexibility with my designs.

Basting a Quilt With Pinmoors

June 4, 2012March 19, 20131 Comment

Machine quilting is my absolute favorite part of making a quilt. However, before I get to that super-fun part, I have to get it all basted and ready to go first. Here’s my favorite method of basting. (You can read about preparing the quilt backing for this quilt here.)

I have two favorite battings that I like to use (cotton or wool). For a small baby quilt such as this one, I love Warm-N-Natural 100% cotton batting. It’s very inexpensive and quilts up wonderfully. It also gives an antique look once you wash it. I usually buy it by the bolt from my local craft-supply store when it’s on sale.

I always cut the batting a little larger than the quilt top, with the backing being slightly larger, too. Once the top is laid out, I’ll trim off the excess leaving about an inch or two around on all sides. For a larger quilt I would tape or clamp the backing & batting down, but that’s not necessary for a smaller quilt like this one.

A customer of mine suggested that I start carrying Pinmoor pin anchors, so I took her suggestion and I’m glad I did. This is by far the easiest way to baste a quilt! You just insert any straight pin into all 3 layers of the quilt. (I like the cute flower pins.) Then you cap the pin with a Pinmoor. It’s like a little nub of soft sturdy plastic that catches the end of the pin.

The best part about using the Pinmoors is that they are extremely easy to take out of the quilt while machine quilting. Just toss the pin into one container and the Pinmoors into another so they are ready for next time. You could also throw them all into one container and use a magnet to separate out the pins. They are indefinitely reusable.

It took exactly 81 Pinmoors and pins to baste this quilt – one for each block! In my next blog post, I’ll write about machine quilting this quilt with an allover design. This is for my sister-in-law’s baby girl, due this summer. I used Lily Ashbury’s Summer House fabric cut into 2 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ strips to make this quilt. It was fun, quick and easy to sew!

Batik Double Wedding Ring Quilt

April 10, 2012March 19, 20134 Comments

Here is the double wedding quilt I made for my husband’s sister Cortney. (I blogged about the other sister’s wedding quilt last week). It was a learning curve for me in so many ways. It was the first quilt I sewed using curves! I also learned a ton about machine quilting and marking.

I think every quilter should make at least one double wedding ring quilt as a sort of right of passage. I made this quilt using a precut Quilt Kit from Benartex. This made the top go together easily. The pieces were notched so I could match the seams with lots of pins.

The blocks were sewn a few at a time in partial rows. Melon pieces filled in the edges.

For the machine quilting, I wanted to try a few new things. I stitched around all of the pieced blocks near the ditch with a decorative serpentine stitch. Then I used a washout marking pencil and a stencil to mark a heart motif in each of the block centers. I used a heavyweight variegated thread for the centers and filled in the backgrounds with black metallic thread from Superior Threads.

To get out all of my markings, I filled a small bowl with water and used a toothbrush to scrub them out. It worked pretty well I think. Because this fabric has so much black, the batting bearded a little and I had to use a lint roller on it (next time – black batting!!)

I named this quilt Los Novios (The Lovers) because of the backing fabric. My sister in-law loves the Alexander Henry Day of the Dead fabric so I thought it was a perfect match for the back! When I entered this quilt in a show recently, the quilt judge loved it until she saw the backing. She didn’t think it was appropriate for this quilt, but my sister-in-law absolutely loves it and that’s what’s most important!

Hearts and Stars Wedding Quilt

April 6, 2012March 19, 20131 Comment

I recently made wedding quilts for my husband’s two sisters. The first one I’m blogging about today was for his sister Cresen who got married about two years ago. (I’ll show pictures of the other one next week.) I titled this one simply Hearts and Stars.

I made the blocks in a quilting class years ago but was never quite sure what to do with them. When Cresen got married they matched her home decor nicely!

Both sisters are really into the Day of the Dead theme, so of course I had to include that fabric on the back. This red fabric is from Alexander Henry, called “Paseo De Los Muertos”. An alternate title for this quilt could be “Americana De Los Muertos.”

For the star quilting I made a template out of a sticky label and stitched around the outside edges. I also added lots of micro-stippling for texture. Click the pictures to see closeups.

For the borders, I played around with some loopy stitching and used a stencil to mark a double-wedding ring motif around the outer border. It took5 hours to mark the outer border and 4 hours to quilt it. But I was loving every minute of it! I used wool batting because it seems to show of the quilting more. I quilted it with Superior Threads Highlights TriLobal polyester (40 weight) in the top with matching Bottom Line thread in the bobbin. I changed threads to match the fabrics so the texture would show, rather than the stitches.

Here it is hanging up in a my guild’s quilt show. Alas, it did not win a ribbon because there were so many other more beautiful quilts in the show. But my sister in-law was happy to receive it and I was thrilled to get in more free-motion machine quilting practice!

The Lorax Quilt

March 30, 2012March 19, 20133 Comments

My mom recently made this cute Lorax quilt from a Robert Kaufman Dr. Seuss kit she got from me. One of the special privileges of being my mom is that she gets first dibs on anything I have in the shop! It took her less than a week to make, from start to finish.

Here’s a detail showing the allover stippling she used to complete the quilting. She tweaked the pattern slightly so that the filler blocks would be complete checkerboards.

The kit actually comes in two different colors: “Bright” and “Earth”.

Mom made the quilt for my sister’s new baby boy!

California Dreamin’ Pillows

February 11, 20121 Comment

Megan from Australia emailed me this picture of two fantastic pillows she made using Jenean Morrison’s California Dreamin’ fabric from Free spirit. Aren’t they gorgeous? It only took about 1/2 yard of each fabric to make them.

She just converted a bedroom back into her sewing studio, so she wanted something nice and bright to replace the cushions on the worn out sofa in there. Nice job, Megan, and thanks for the inspiration!

Flower Fairies Bag and Pillow

January 30, 2012January 25, 20122 Comments

Take a look at these nifty projects fellow sewing enthusiast Gwen just made:

She ordered the green Flower Fairies and Fairy Frost fat quarter combo from me plus a little extra of the green Fairy Frost. Isn’t this bag simply adorable? She used Penny Sturges’ Big Bag pattern and adjusted it to fit the size she wanted.

She made the tote bag and matching pillow as a gift for her daughter in law who’s favorite color happens to be peridot green.

Gwen loves to make bags and totes as gifts for Christmas, birthdays and weddings. They are fun and quick to make and really let you show off some pretty fabrics. Way to go, Gwen!

California Dreamin’ Dress

January 20, 2012January 17, 20124 Comments

Here’s another beautiful project made by customer Pat P. from Australia for her granddaughter, shown here with permission. I love how the bright colors in the dress echo the botanical garden around her. Australians are wonderful quilters and seamstresses!

Here is a closeup shot of the dress, using California Dreamin’ fabric by Jenean Morrison for Free Spirit. If you are “sew” inspired to make something similar, you are in luck as I just put that collection on sale for a limited time.

Here’s what Pat had to say about creating this dress, ” I made the dress because all you can buy locally are dresses which are are the same as each other. This was economical and fun to make.

“The materials went together so well and were just perfect. I used my bias binder to make the strips down the front. The fabric was so easy to sew and did not crease and I only needed a small amount of each fabric. I added some fancy buttons and little daisies. My grand daughter is 8 and still loves girly things.”

Ok, this seriously makes me want to venture out of my quilting comfort zone and try something new!

Flower Fairy Panel Quilt

January 17, 2012January 17, 2012Leave a comment

I just love it when customers send me photos of quilts they’ve made with my fabric! This Fairy quilt comes from Debra in Australia and I’m showing it here with her permission.

Isn’t it lovely? She used one panel unit of the Periwinkle Flower Fairies from Michael Miller and surrounded it with coordinating tone-on-tones and some patchwork.

Here’s what Debra had to say about her quilt, “I made the quilt for a family friend’s 11 year old granddaughter. I decided on the fairies and the colours because they represented colour, warmth and love of life. The frames around the squares were different sizes. This quilt was a real challenge and I really enjoyed making it.

“I have always sewn and knitted my children’s clothes. I got bored with sewing, knitting and crocheting and decided to make a quilt and I haven’t looked back since.

“When someone wants a quilt, I try and take in all that I can about the person, because to me this is important in deciding what pattern and colours I will use.”

Way to go Debra!