2010 Fabric Requirements

[Margo C.]

Quilt as desired.... that's a set of tough decisions for many of us! I rarely identify quilting designs because whether it is you or your "hired" quilter doing the quilting, it is often difficult for one person to duplicate quilting designs in another's quilt.

However - since several of you want some tips/clues... I will describe how I quilted Stars for a New Day.

-- Feathered Star: Stitch in the ditch (right next to the seam lines, in other words) along each piece; in the setting squares and triangles, quilt feathered vines.
-- Feathered Star setting triangles: When setting the star on point, four large triangles are used; in each of these, I quilted a "swooping" feathered vine through the triangle.
-- Four-patch pieced border: Stitch in the ditch along each seam line; in addition, echo inside the setting triangles a quarter inch from the seam line with "chevrons" (V's)
-- Pinwheel border: Stitch in the ditch
-- Setting triangles of Star block border: I stitched in the ditch on all of the seam lines, and then echoed that seam line inside the triangle with chevrons (v's) a couple of times (like 1/4" inside, 1/2" inside, then 1" and 1-1/4" inside) -- I like how adding geometric lines sets the floral prints into place in a pieced quilt
-- Pieced blocks: In each of the pieced blocks, I quilted a feathered wreath on top of all of the piecing. Just as quilting geometric lines on floral prints brings them together with the piecing, feathered wreaths soften the harshness of intricate piecing.
-- Flying geese: Stitchi n the ditch on all seam lines.
-- Staggered Stars border: I quilted a meandering feathered vine around the entire perimeter - across all of the stars. I used a creamy color of thread -- because the fabrics are of so many colors and prints, it blends in nicely and while it is not hidden, it did not stand at attention on top of the colored prints.
"wiggle" line down the center of the strip.

You will note that I "stitch in the ditch" along nearly all of the seam lines. That takes a lot of time - but I believe that it adds to the beauty of a quilt to have the pieces stand out with in-the-ditch quilting. Many long arm quilters don't like to take the time - or hate the "start and stop" nature of such quilting - but I believe it is worth the time.

So where do I come up with patterns for quilting? For nearly three decades, I have stopped at every stencil booth I have seen at quilt shows. I always find three to six stencils that I don't have and want. I buy them and keep them in a clear vinyl tub. I may not know exactly what I'm going to use these stencils for... but when I need one, I can almost always find one that "fits" whatever I am going to quilt. Sometimes it is a combination of stencils that work best -- if the stencil is too small, subdivide the area you will quilt and repeat the motif of the stencil two or three times in the area you want to quilt. Another option is to use the stencil and "echo" around the outside of it if it is too small for the area you want to quilt -- just add a line of quilting a quarter-inch or 3/8" from the outer edge of the stencil. You can do this more than once to enlarge any stencil.

When quilting, it is important to quilt evenly across the face of the quilt -- if you heavily quilt one border and then barely quilt another, your quilt may bubble up along the less-quilted areas - or shrink in the more heavily quilted areas.

Don't short-change yourself when you start quilting your quilt -- after the many hours that you put into piecing it, continue to grow its beauty with the quilting; you will be amazed at how much more you can fall in love with your quilt once it is quilted!

I should also add that the quilting I did on my quilt is only ONE of a million ways to quilt Stars for New Day -- you don't need to do what I did -- my goodness, from looking at the pictures in show-and-tell, I know that you all are just incredibly creative with fabrics, colors, piecing, setting.... and I know you can be equally creative with your quilting. Go for it!

Happy sewing -
Sue Garman

[Margo C.]

Thanks so much Sue! This is great information to get me started.

[Margo C.]

I was thinking that we could have an extra section in each BOM show and tell that features the quilting used on the BOM. For example, we have a section for each month as well as the completed BOM, add a section that is titled quilting. Seeing all the different quilts and how they were quilted would be helpful to me. I hope this makes since.

[Sherry B.]

Amoret, Wanda did buy the kits in Houston. They will be available in the TQS Shoppe. I am looking forward to seeing the colors Margo did for hers. And I think it's great that there is both a pieced one and an appliqued one - something for everyone - or people can do both.

[Sherry B.]

Thanks, Sue, for letting us know how you did the quilting! It will be a good jumping off point for me, as I plan on quilting this one myself rather than sending it off to the longarmer!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois

[Sherry B.]

Loads of information there Sue, thanks so much. I haven't done your BOM this year but it's still information relevant to any top! I know sometimes you just know what it needs but when that happens, it's a lucky day!! :lol:

[Cathy R.]

Great information Sue! Thank you. Any chance we can see some closeup pictures of various sections of your quilting in December???

[Cathy R.]

But I do agree, it's not a good stance to take selling outside your community first if it is. John didn't yea or nea it!

While folks at Houston did get a chance to purchase the kits, they won't get them done UNLESS they are part of the community, b/c that's where the patterns are!
So Houston is a marketing event, and this could be a way to get more members on TQS! We're nearly at 48,000!!
Florence

[Gloria H.]

When you stitch-in-the-ditch do you use a walking foot and turn the quilt at intersections? I have been free motion ditch quilting but I'm not 100% steady and have wobbles. I feel like I should be able to do it free motion but may be I'm dreaming and should go with the dual feed. Opinions?

[Kathryn S.]

[quote="GloriaH"]When you stitch-in-the-ditch do you use a walking foot and turn the quilt at intersections? I have been free motion ditch quilting but I'm not 100% steady and have wobbles.

Gloria, When I ditch quilt, I usually use my walking foot, I have a Janome 6600 and a Pfaff 7570 both of which have integrated walking feet. So, for the ditches I put on an open toe applique foot to let me see better. Some machine quilting gurus use free motion to quilt in the ditch, however we mere mortals are more likely to wobble than not when free motion quilting straight lines.

I will usually try to find long straight lines, tying off at each end, but for this quilt, that might not be possible. It *is* doable to turn the quilt (ask me how I know that!), it just takes a long time.

And I plan to FMQ feathers in this one whenever I can, can hardly wait for that part!

Kathy

[Kathryn S.]

Sue....Thank you for the hints on quilting. your recommendations re: thread color, all over patterns on floral, geometric lines, intricate piecing, and in the ditch was just the sort of information I needed to hear. Can't wait to add the perfect embellishment to this quilt!
Dot

[Kathryn S.]

do you think that this quilt could be quilted by hand? there are so many seams in the blocks. it is difficult for me to quilt by hand through seams - especially seams that have been pieced together by machine.

I know I can easily quilt by hand in the setting triangles and larger areas. I just have a concern about the intricate areas.

Advice, anyone?

[Kathryn S.]

It would take some doing, but I know my plans already are to hand quilt this project. Reading Sue's suggestions there are some great ideas for things that will work by hand, like echoing the triangles for the star borders and most of the quilt in the ditch advice, and I think I could meander those quilted vines to avoid a lot of the seams if I plan it right. I don't know about attempting to hand quilt feather wreaths on all those stars though, lol. I think that might kill my poor little fingers 8) I'll probably either echo or quilt in the ditch to emphasize certain elements of each star... hmmm going to have to think think think...

[Marion D.]

If you want quilting ideas, check out this website. She is amazing!

http://www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

[Hannelore N.]

Cindy Needham's book has a lot of beautiful quilting patterns in it.

Lorchen