Machine Quilting Tips & Tricks

Machine Quilting Advice: How Not to Quilt

2012-12-19T05:00:00Z

I hate to admit it to myself and to others, but I really did just ruin a small pillow top by machine quilting it. You read correctly: I ruined a perfectly nice piece of patchwork. The stitching is crooked, the thread is blah, the quilting takes away from the design rather than enhancing it, and the workmanship is not the best. I can only blame myself--I achieved lack-luster results all because I didn't follow my own self-imposed "rules" for quilting.

I've been thinking long and hard about investing in a new machine specifically for quilting my larger pieces. But in the back of my head I know that no matter what machine I have or how much time and effort I spend in learning how to use it, I will never create pieces that are of show-stopping quality if I don't follow some basic steps before starting to stitch.

So are there really rules for machine quilting? Maybe not hard-and-fast rules, but when I do follow a few guidelines I get better results. And this time, I think I broke every single one of them.

My own internal checklist has me answer a few simple questions before I get started.

Plan the design before you start. If I had taken a few minutes to relate the quilting pattern to the quilt top, the overall result would have been significantly better.
Fill an extra bobbin or two. This ensures there is enough thread for the project and minimizes stopping and starting as you wind bobbins and rethread your machine.
Practice on a small quilt sandwich before quilting on the final project. 10 minutes of practice usually gets me "in the groove" to stitch any design with confidence. Instead, I practiced on my project, and the results are inconsistent design details and stitch length.
Pull the bobbin thread to the top to avoid unsightly nests underneath your work. Ugh, that happened twice.
Always move the work away from you so you can see where you are going. I got lazy and tried to quilt by moving the work toward me on alternating rows of quilting. The results speak for themselves...
Relax. My shoulders were tight after only a few minutes of quilting. Relaxing makes a big difference in the quality of the stitching.

Better than my advice is to review the incredible wealth of information from the real experts. My go-to source for inspired designs and practical quilting advice is past articles in Quilting Arts Magazine from contributors like Robbi Joy Eklow, Frieda Anderson, Judy Coates Perez, and Carol Taylor. There's even a free machine quilting eBook available on our website, packed with advice for quilters of all levels.

How do you prepare for quilting? Do you plan everything ahead, or do you just jump in and stitch? Leave a comment on the blog and let us know.

Perfect Handmade Gift: Stitch a One-of-a-Kind Sketchbook Cover, Part II

2012-06-22T14:20:00Z

Note from Vivika: This is the fourth in a series of blog posts by Candy Glendening showing you how to create unique functional pieces with artistic flair.

Now that you've dyed a spectacular piece(s) of multi-colored fabric ,it's time to show it off. What better way than to make a one-of-a-kind Sketchbook? Featuring a piece of multicolor fabric with a thread-sketched abstract mum design on the cover, this cover holds a 7" x 10" coil-bound sketchbook securely with an elastic to hold it closed when it's tossed in your bag.

Materials Needed for a 7" x 10" Sketchbook

(2) Fat quarters of fabric: multicolor "focus" fabric and lining
1/3 yard accent fabric
Scrap of fusible webbing
Midweight woven fusible interfacing: ¾" yard
Fusible Batting: 12" x 18"
12" of ¼" flat braided or wrapped elastic
Neutral color sewing thread
Heavy Cotton Decorative Variegated thread

Cut and Interface Pieces

2. Use a rotary cutter and ruler to cut out all the pieces in the table below. Different pieces will be interfaced differently, this is detailed next.

Fabric	Item	Fabric		Interfacing		Batting
		Width	Height	Width	Height	Width	Height
Focus	Front & Back (2)	8	12	8	12	6.75	10.75
Accent	Spine	3.5	12	3.5	12	2.25	10.75
Lining	Inner Lining	17.5	12	17	11.5
Accent	Inner Flaps (2)	14	12	6.75	11.5

3. The front, back and spine will become little mini quilts, except the backing is interfacing, rather than fabric. Lay the fabric pieces (right side facing down) on your ironing board, center the batting and then add the interfacing (fusible side down). Using steam and a hot iron, fuse this sandwich together in a 3 step process (to avoid wrinkles around the perimeter): 1^st, lightly steam and fuse tack the interfacing to the batting, 2^nd, flip the sandwich over and press from the center out, fusing all three layers together, and then 3^rd flip it over again and give those edges an extra press to ensure that the interfacing is well fused to the perimeter of the fabric (and the batting is safely enclosed in the middle.

4. The inner lining piece is simply interfaced by centering the interfacing (fusible side down) on the back of the lining material and fusing following the manufacturer's instructions. The lack of interfacing in the seam allowance will cut down on bulk.

5. Fold both the inner flaps half, wrong sides together, and press. Insert the interfacing into the fold, aligning the top of the interfacing with the top of the fold, and press.

Artify the Journal

6. Unleash your creative muse here! Whatever you love to create, the outer panels are the place to share this with the world. For this sketchbook, I fused a piece of my lining fabric to the front and used that as an anchor for my "Free Motion Machine Sketching." I thread my machine with a very thick (24 weight) slightly variegated thread, a very strong needle (denim/topstich) and use 50 wt cotton bobbin thread (matching the main color of the top thread). See the video below for more details.

Click on the image above to see the video of Candy machine quilting
the motif.

Assembly

7. Stitch the spine between the front and back pieces. Press the seams open and topstitch along each side of these two seams. Topstitch the folded edge of both pockets as well.

8. Place the lining right side up and align the raw edges of the front pocket on the left side and the back pocket on the right side. Baste the pockets to the lining. Baste your elastic about 2" in from the left side.

9. Lay the front cover face down on top of the lining/pockets, right sides together. Stitch around the perimeter, taking care to leave a 4" gap at the bottom for turning. Clip the corners and turn inside out, using a tool like a knitting needle to get those corners pushed out (be careful you don't poke through them though!) Press well, making sure that the edges of the gap are folded just right so that they are in line with your seam.

10. Topstitch carefully around the perimeter. Make sure the elastic is on the top so you're aware of its location. When you get to the part of the cover where it's attached, stretch the elastic out of the way so you don't stitch over it.

11. Insert your journal or sketchbook and you are done!

I hope you've enjoyed this series of posts I've shared with you. The flow of color and visual texture of the fabrics that I dye, combined with the strong, "sketchy" lines of my free motion machine stitching emphasize that individual hand made quality of everything I make; I hope that this inspires you to find your own path towards unique textile art.

Candy

CandiedFabrics.com

Freshly Picked Baby Outfits: Free-Motion Quilting

2012-06-04T20:15:00Z

A note from Vivika: Here again is Candy Glendening with the second of four guest posts here on Quilting Daily, teaching you how to combine dyeing and stitch. Candy has been a guest on 'Quilting Arts TV,' has her own QA Workshop video, and has appeared in several Interweave publications. She really knows her stuff!

Free-motion stitching gives
this baby tee personality.

In my previous post I took you through dyeing clothes and fabric to create a cute little baby outfit that would be the perfect baby shower gift.

This post will show you how to sketch free-motion machine quilting designs like a bird motif on a bright piece of fabric and embellish the shirt to create the cutest little outfit!

If you'd like to make your own Freshly Picked outfit, you'll need:

Snap-crotch tee and socks dyed one color
Pants and fat quarter of fabric dyed a contrasting color
Small piece of mid-weight, woven, fusible interfacing
Small piece of light-weight, non-woven, fusible interfacing
Heavy variegated quilting thread that contrasts against your fabric (I use YLI Fusions 24/3 ply)
Solid thread that matches your fabric
Sewing machine with free-motion capabilities

1. Fuse the mid-weight, woven, fusible interfacing to the a portion of the hand dyed fabric to stabilize. Set up your machine for free-motion stitching and stitch the bird motif. (Click on the image below to see a video showing you exactly how I do this.)

Watch Candy free-motion sketch the
bird motif in this video.

2. Cut a wonky shape around the stitched bird and place it face down on the light-weight, non-woven, fusible interfacing, with the fusible side touching the front side of the bird. (fig. 2a) Trim the interfacing, stitch all the way around the perimeter, then clip the corners. (fig. 2b) Cut a slit through the interfacing (fig. 2c) and turn the patch right side out (fig. 2d)

Constructing the patch with machine quilting.

3. Fuse the patch to the front of the tee shirt. Topstitch around the perimeter of the patch, being careful to only stitch through the front of the shirt. Begin stitching at the bottom of the patch with the snaps of the crotch open; as you turn each corner, adjust the bulk of the shirt so it is out of the way of the needle

Machine quilting the bird motif.

Once you've stitched the patch on the shirt, you are done.

These are so easy to do, a whole flock of these outfits may be flying out of your sewing room in no time!

Candy
candiedfabrics.com

Machine Quilting: Avoiding the Dreaded Nest

2012-04-11T19:12:00Z

This time of year, I am “nest obsessed.” The birds are chirping outside my office window, and the robins especially are actively searching for blades of grass and small twigs to use in their nests. These architectural wonders may seem like random assortments of sticks, but actually have a real sense of order if you study them closely. There is always a methodical and intentional arrangement of materials, which is admirable if you consider that often two birds are creating each nest.

One of my artistic thread nests. Not the bad kind.

I have a small collection of nests that I have gathered on my walks in the woods near my house, and have even tried my hand at creating nests out of fabric (see Quilting Arts April/May 2011, p. 56) with great results.

However, there are some nests that I’d rather avoid, and those seem to appear on the backs of my quilts when I lose concentration or get sloppy. They have absolutely no sense of order and are the source of much frustration.

One of my gathered
bird's nests.

The dreaded nests are made of a tangle of bobbin thread, always happening when I am in a hurry and skip the first key step in machine quilting of pulling up the bobbin thread before taking the first stitch.

Pulling up the thread is simple, it is easy, and it is necessary. So why do I keep making this mistake?

Maybe if I review the short one-minute video that Pokey Bolton shared showing how to pull up the bobbin thread and avoid the dreaded mess on the back of a quilt I'll be a bit more successful in doing things right.

Or maybe I’ll just have to mount a photo of a thread nest in my line of vision behind my sewing machine. Whatever it takes!

How do you remember to do this one easy step before you begin to quilt? Tell me in the comments section below.