When I first started quilting, I made the decision to quilt my own quilts on my machine or by hand. Not only do you save money as having your quilt done by someone who owns a long arm is quite expensive, but you have the personal satisfaction of doing it yourself. I have quilted all my quilts on my home sewing machine with exception to one that I hand quilted. There several different ways to quilt on your home sewing machine. One method is to buy design stencils, trace them on to your quilt top and sew following the design. You can also stitch in the ditch, stitch 1/4 inch in from the seam line, or do free motion quilting. I always use my walking foot when doing the stitch in the ditch or sewing 1/4 inch from the seam line. I also always use basting spray that you buy at the fabric stores. You can use pins also, it just depends on what works for you best. With the basting spray, you need no pins and your layers stay in place. It also does not gum up your needles or your machine. With free motion sewing you will need to use your free motion or darning foot and raise your feed dogs. .I searched on you tube for some free videos on free motion quilting and found the following by Patsy Thompson. She has a 4 part video you can watch and she really is good. I also went to her website patsythompsondesigns.com. You can view all her videos on quilting. Free hand quilting takes practice. .
Monday, April 21, 2014
Monday, April 7, 2014
Scrappy Quilts
Well ladies, I have returned! It has been nearly a year since I have blogged and I apologize. I have physically felt bad for so long. In 2012 I had back surgery and in Nov of 2013 I had more back surgery. I can happily say I think they got it right this time and I am pain free for the first time in years. In the past year I have joined a group of quilters called, "Quilts of Valor." There are chapters all over the U.S. We make quilts for wounded soldiers and veterans. It not only is such a worthy cause, these ladies are really a super group of people. Not only do we have tons of fun, I have learned so much about quilting from them. Most of the quilts we make are red, white and blue but not all. Right this moment we are making Scrappy Pineapple quilts. Initially I had reservations about these squares. We each were given a box that had 2 1/2 inch squares and strips of scraps that were cut to
1 1/2 inches wide. You sew a strip on each side of the square and then trim it with the pineapple ruler. You keep doing this until you have sewed 8 rows. Here is a sample of a square and a video on how to use the pineapple ruler. The squares look fantastic and you can create so many different looks with whatever material you choose. Also check out the new pictures I included in our album. I did a
sister Julie and a quilt for my husband in honor of his military service in Viet Nam. I will doing a lot of blogging and hope all of you submit your posts as well. Now that I have found out how to add videos, I intend to add more as learning tools. Until next time ladies, happy sewing!
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