Free Motion Quilting--Ruler Work--Quilting Sizzle Quilt

UPDATE NOTICE--lots of photos have been added showing how I quilted the Cool Sizzle quilt.

For a lot of quilters, deciding HOW to quilt our quilts is the biggest challenge. It certainly is for me. I really like Ruler Work so do as much of it as I can.

This week I finished quilting the Cool Sizzle quilt, with the pieced borders:

While quilting it, I thought "who can I give this to?" Our niece, Kallie, who is expecting her first baby in just a couple weeks did not get the traditional "college graduation Super Star quilt" I make for all our nieces and nephews--she wasn't an official part of the family then. A couple years ago she told me turquoise was one of her favorite colors. It just seems like she is the right one to get this quilt.

Sizzle was designed by Becky Goldsmith for The Quilt Show. It was the 2019 Block of the Month. Now Becky has the rights to her pattern back and is working on having it published. She enjoyed seeing some of the border variations members of TQS did on their quilts and this is a border she wants to include. So good photos are a must.

Once the quilting was done on Cool Sizzle, I jumped on to Foothills:

I really love this quilt and am keeping it for  myself. See these posts for more information:

Last Chance

Change Your Mind

I worked with plexiglass and a dry erase marker, trying out a variety of design ideas after going through a lot of Free Motion Quilting books and YouTube videos:

I also played with paper and pencil:

When I had a plan, I just started. Only have a few blocks done so far but I am happy with the designs overall:

For Free Motion Quilting, I am working to master a few designs I really love and those will become my "go-to" designs for most quilts. Feathers are high on the list so I might quilt a simple feather border on the narrow outside border. On second thought,  it really might be too  narrow for feathers so loopy leaves is another design I enjoy--that is fast and fun.

I will enjoy quilting several blocks on Foothills each day, now that I know what the plan is.

What are you working on? Does the quilting part come naturally to you or is it hard to decide what to quilt?

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Sizzle--It's a Wrap!

We have made it to December and Sizzle is coming to an end. My Warm version is done and gifted, it now lives in Texas:

SIZZLE--HOT!

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are not done, and that's OK, BE SURE you download/print/save ALL the instructions by December 31, 2019. After that date they are ALL removed from The Quilt Show and become the sole property of Becky Goldsmith, the designer. Any you are missing you will have to purchase directly from Becky when she has the pattern available for sale. That's the legal, contract, and copyright rules and we have to abide by them.

Let's talk about assembly of the top. It's pretty simple:

1. Sew 9 blocks together into rows, 3 x 3
2. Add Left and Right borders on the sides
3. Add Top and Bottom borders--Done!

Now it's time to quilt. I did this one myself on my Bernina Q20 Sit Down Longarm. I pin-basted it with safety pins, using my dining room table, doing first one side, then the next.

I selected threads that would blend with the various fabrics. I used a tan Bottom Line thread for the back, that blended completely with the back fabric:

When I am quilting my own quilt, I make a test "sandwich" of the same back and batting and several of the fabrics in the quilt. This allows me to test the thread and tension before working on the quilt. This one is pretty skimpy, I recommend a larger "sandwich":

While in Denver in August taping The Quilt Show, I was able to see and photograph both the Cool and Warm versions made by Becky Goldsmith. The Cool was quilted by Becky and the Warm by Angela Walters. This gave me a few ideas for quilting designs.

First, I stitched in the ditch between the rows of blocks. This helps to stabilize the quilt and quite a few of the pins can be removed as this step is done.

Second, I stitched around the large circle of each block. It took me until block 6 to realize I had to SLOW DOWN--I took out quite a lot of the stitching as I veered off course going around the circles. If doing this on a domestic machine, with feed dogs, I would have been more successful from the beginning. Once I slowed down and kept my hands close to where I was stitching, things were much better.

Now it was time to add more quilting to each block. I love ruler work so chose then whenever possible and appropriate:

Stitching in the Ditch where the border meets the quilt

For each block, I used a piece of plexiglass and dry erase marker to "audition" free motion designs I wanted to try:

Ideas for the Background

For the purple wedges that are along the outer circle edge, I wanted to use a design that was easy to quilt and would be continuous around the the block. All 9 would be done the same. Here is what I decided to do:

As I went around the circle, I used the ruler to go down the right side of the wedge, then did a double loop from the point up toward the outside of the wedge, then I used the ruler to move up the left side of the wedge, back to the curved outside edge. If you are really good at free motion, you could do those straight lines without a ruler.

The most important decision was how to quilt the yellow/orange/rust backgrounds. In the photo above you see the path I selected. Here is the result:

I used white school chalk to make marks at the places I needed to hit. To keep it continuous, the center line was stitched up then back out so I could keep going.

When the first pass was done, I decided it needed more quilting so I did a second pass that echoed the first and traveled in the ditch. Yes, that puts a good bit of stitching in the ditch in places, but you can't see it unless you really look close. And that beats starting and stopping all the time.

Each block got additional quilting, some ruler work, some free motion, depending on what I felt it needed. Some were better than others, some I kept adding to, usually after thinking I was done. The next day I would realize more quilting was needed.

For the Borders, first I echoed each applique' shape. Then I filled in with swirls and loops, all of this with thread that closely matched the rust fabric. Then I used thread that matched the applique's and did some decorative stitching on each shape.

All in all, it was fun, I was pleased with my quilting and the overall quilt is one of the best I've ever quilted myself. The entire job took less than 20 hours over 5 days.

Here are shots of each block:

Feel free to quilt yours however you like.

Finishing the quilt requires binding, adding a sleeve and a permanent label. I have written about these topics before. And there are many videos online that show these important steps. My links:

Finishing and Binding and adding a Sleeve

Adding a Permanent Label   I am a believer that every quilt needs a label, just do it.

The label I put on mine, showing the back fabric:

When my Sizzle--Hot! was completely done, I machine washed and dried it with a Color Catcher--if it was going to bleed I wanted to find out before giving it to my friend. That got rid of the chalk marks and left it soft and cuddly. She likes it and I am happy she will enjoy it.

Next up for me is quilting Sizzle--Cool. I will do the backgrounds the same but have a few other quilting motifs in mind for this one:

Pin basted, ready to go

Test sandwich, ready for thread and tension adjustments

I hope you have enjoyed this year-long journey. We have Becky Goldsmith to thank for a wonderful design, and The Quilt Show to thank for giving it to us for FREE!

Let's quilt.

Barbara

SIZZLE Block 9

This is the  2019 Block of the Month from The Quilt Show. This quilt pattern designed by Becky Goldsmith is FREE to Star Members.  Join Today  to be part of the fun.

Be sure to READ ALL THE GENERAL DIRECTIONS and WATCH ALL THE VIDEOS. Each month's pattern has detailed instructions as well. 

PRIOR POSTS WITH HELPFUL INFORMATION:

Block 1
Block 2
Block 3
Block 4
Block 5
Block 6
Month 7
Month 8

CUTTING NOTE: for the last few blocks, I check to see if I have leftover pieces of the required fabrics I can use to cut some of the pieces BEFORE I cut the strips called for in the pattern. I have been able to save at least one strip each month--this will come in handy for the pieced border I will be doing with my Cool Kit version.

We made it to Month 9 and I believe we have saved the best for last:

This block consists of 3 rings, each set into the other. The small Center Circle is the same size we made in Blocks 4 and 8--you will use the paper patterns for the center circle that you saved from printing Month 4. Refer back to Months 4 or 8 if you need help making the center circle.

I organized the cut fabrics for the Inner Ring beside my machine. Once I determined how to place fabrics 1 and 2, I stacked them all up ready to go. This is one of the odd angles where you want to be sure fabric 2 will cover space 2 on the pattern--use a pin to check first, before sewing. Remember, the back side of fabric 1 is touching the wrong side of the paper pattern for piece #1:

The Inner Ring is similar to the units we made in  Month 8--when trimming the excess paper and fabric away, you can see the edges are not complete straight lines, they are cut in two passes on each side. I have drawn a red line to show where to pivot as you trim the outer edges:

Trimmed on the left, waiting to be trimmed on the right--I love Karen K Buckley's Perfect Scissors:

When preparing to sew two Inner Ring units together, you  will find it helps to tear the paper where the two lines change direction--I sewed these in two separate steps but having the paper torn at the "bend" makes the second seam so much easier to align and pin before sewing:

Join all the Inner Ring units and remove the paper. Following the same steps as in Months 4 and 8, pin and piece the Center Circle into the Inner Ring center. Slow and steady is the way to go--pin all the intersections carefully--then sew slowly, using a stiletto or other sharp pointy object to keep the outer edges aligned as you sew. Becky has a video of this process:  

Pinning and Sewing the Center Circle

 Next, make the Outer Ring--there are 3 patterns/page and we print 3 pages--this makes 9 paper patterns for the Outer Ring BUT we only need 8:

The units are easy to sew, the two on the left are not trimmed, the two on the right are:

 As usual, I find it very helpful to use a small dot of glue stick on the outer edges, just inside the seam allowances, to hold the fabric to the paper before trimming the curved edges with scissors--I made a small X on the two locations where I put a dot of glue stick:

With the first half, I didn't trim them all before joining them into a half. I found it was easier if I did trim them so for the other half I trimmed, then joined:

Complete Outer Ring:

Be sure you read the instructions--mark the small dot printed on the Outer Ring pattern to the seam allowance of the Outer Ring BEFORE you remove the paper:

Since you successfully joined the Center Circle to the Inner Ring, this next step will be a breeze--pin the Outer Ring to the Inner Ring, matching the marked dots. Sew slow and steady and all will be well:

Add the Block Corners and your final block is done! You should say to yourself, out loud:

"I am awesome!"  Think of all you have learned so far this year.

Next month we are on to the applique' borders.

Let's quilt.

Barbara