How would YOU hand quilt this?

[Juliet W.]

Lovely tutorial that, I wouldn't risk going round as I would just be petrified to get to the middle and find a huge lump but I am seriously considering Baptist fans for the whole thing, as a challenge. I keep doing the same old and it's probably time I took a leap into the untried or how else will I progress?! I think fans going round on a smaller/baby quilt would look nice but would you notice their direction on something queen size?

[Margo C.]

I think Baptist Fans from all sides would look great on a bed quilt, because the parts hanging over the sides would look "right" from each side of the bed, and the part on the top of the bed would be covered with wonderful texture.
But...lined up fans would look great too, and may avoid the lumpy middle!

[Juliet W.]

If I spray basted the quilt and then put in some thread basting lines that would help make it very secure and I could see that it wasn't moving!! Or, I do have a reel of wash away thread, carefully preserved in a bag, and I could machine quilt some huge stitches in the ditch and they would disappear when I washed the the quilt.
In Bonnie Hunter's tutorial she recommends a maximum of 5 fans and the Easy Cut Circle template would be 5 fans if I draw every other one which would make them 1" apart, so maybe this is meant to be.
I was never a Star Trek fan but would love to beam you down here Margo!

[Rita C.]

Thanks for the reminder about that tutorial Margo. There is just something so wonderful about seeing a quilt in a hoop with beautiful hand quilting that makes me want to hand quilt again.Nancy thanks for the link to the tutorial where the semi-circle ruler was used as a template. I also have that ruler but I have never successfully used it for circles. Using it as a template for fans sounds like a brilliant idea and I am now going to do that for my T2T quilt which is patiently waiting to be quilted.

[Nancy R.]

And I might have to get that ruler for marking fans. Great idea!

Nancy

[Margo C.]

That tutorial recommends using a "water soluble fabric marker" and shows something like a "Marks-B-Gone".

For a much more economical marker, consider using Crayola WASHABLE school markers, but only if you plan to wash the quilt after it's quilted.
There is much talk and info about these markers here: http://forum/i-need-quilting-related...shable-markers

Margarita, that would be one heck of a road trip!! :lol:

Actually, I have 4 cousins who were born in Caracas when their dad was working there with the Gulf Oil Company! Small world, huh!

[Juliet W.]

It is a small world and the TQS makes it smaller, thank goodness. I looked at the markers on Amazon, I think my friend in Rhode Island would pick them up for me if I asked nicely but I must tell him which ones, the classic broad tip or the fine point? Choices and decisions, that's the only thing I have against Amazon, when I wanted some of those Sakura pigma pens for writing on labels it took me forever to work out which packet to order! Loving this and all the help, everyone seems to be benefiting from all the tutorials and info - wonderful! Margo, I am supposing all your cousins are now living anywhere except Planet Venezuela? and thanks for the starch recipe which I picked up along with the markers link.

[Juliet W.]

It is a small world and the TQS makes it smaller, thank goodness. I looked at the markers on Amazon, I think my friend in Rhode Island would pick them up for me if I asked nicely but I must tell him which ones, the classic broad tip or the fine point? Choices and decisions, that's the only thing I have against Amazon, when I wanted some of those Sakura pigma pens for writing on labels it took me forever to work out which packet to order! Loving this and all the help, everyone seems to be benefiting from all the tutorials and info - wonderful! Margo, I am supposing all your cousins are now living anywhere except Planet Venezuela? and thanks for the starch recipe which I picked up along with the markers link.

I would go for the fine tip ones myself - you don't want to use up more ink than you have to.

[Juliet W.]

Makes sense, thank you Rosemary

[Margo C.]

Rosemary is right! Definitely go for the fine points! http://www.amazon.com/Crayola-Count-...ers+fine+point

Yes....all of the cousins now live near Houston, which is a perfect excuse for a road trip in early November! :wink:

[Juliet W.]

Margo, you are too kind - thank you! I have two friends who live in the Houston area and that of course is why I have been to the Houston Quilt Festival twice, I must admit I am quite keen to go to another one day. My godson in Chicago is getting married this year, I'll let them settle down for a while and then..2014 perhaps, who knows?

[Juliet W.]

Margo, you are too kind - thank you! I have two friends who live in the Houston area and that of course is why I have been to the Houston Quilt Festival twice, I must admit I am quite keen to go to another one day. My godson in Chicago is getting married this year, I'll let them settle down for a while and then..2014 perhaps, who knows?

Well--if you get to Chicago, let me know--I only live 80 miles from downtown. Maybe, we can get together.

[Juliet W.]

Cool! Thank you Ritzy.

[Juliet W.]

I tried using the water soluble pen and the Crayola washable markers with my newly purchased EZ Circle Ruler, but they were too fat to fit into the grooves in the ruler. The ruler was originally designed for use with a rotary cutter blade, so it's narrow. I've only had success using a very sharp No. 2 pencil or a mechanical quilt marking pencil. Even a sharpened water soluble pencil, which is wider than a regular pencil, wouldn't fit into the grooves. I hope the pencil marks will wash out, if my stitching doesn't fully cover them.

[Juliet W.]

I am just this minute beginning to mark my quilt top and I am going for the feather option with something else in the squares and rectangles. I will attach the diagram my non quilting friend did for me, we sort of thought of it together but he is a furniture designer and drew it out for me on some programme on his Mac. Totally cool, I was very impressed. I am marking the feathers with my sewline trio pencil using the lead bit which does wash out, I just tested a bit and then the rest of it I will use masking tape as I go. I really want to do Baptist Fan one day but I don't think this is where this time. I have taken note of what you say about the ruler, I think the day I do them I might just cut out some large cardboard pieces to trace nice big fans and get the job done quicker - the size of the circles put me off a bit. Thanks Nancy for the input.