FREE MOTION MACHINE QUILTING

 While I enjoy hand quilting and learned to do it many years ago, it is slow. Now most of my quilts are finished by machine quilting.

While some are "quilted by checkbook", meaning I pay a longarm quilter to quilt them, most I quilt myself on my Bernina Q20 sit down longarm machine. Like with most things, the more you practice, the better you become.

2012, that's 14 years ago, I started planning and making a quilt for my 60th birthday, my "Diamond Jubilee". It is almost finished! I have written about this quilt a lot during those years, find one of them HERE.

This is the top before I started quilting it:

Some photos of the quilting:

As I worked on the various stars, I wondered what I could do in the wide paisley border. It needed a good bit of quilting but nothing would show up except for the "texture" given by the stitches. And there was nothing I could mark on this fabric that I would be able to see for quilting. 

By dumb luck at just the right time, I learned of Geraldine Wilkins' new ruler: Stitchline 3-in-1 Ruler Quilting Tool. I met Geraldine when we both taught at the Virginia Consortium of Quilters a few years ago. She knows her stuff and is an excellent machine quilting teacher. And she knows what makes a tool really great. The price was right, shipping was reasonable, so I ordered it. Timing was perfect, it arrived the day before I was ready to tackle those borders.

I wanted something curvy, fairly open, and the ruler had excellent markings to require no marking on the quilt itself. I was very pleased with how well it works and how the border looked finished:

Back showing the border quilting, a wavy cross hatch

Straight Line 1 Ruler--in addition to the curvy edge there is a channel for stitch in the ditch, and a straight edge with needle stops at both ends

The first pass--all curvy lines done in only one direction. After that was done, I decided it needed to be done in the other direction too.

Detail of quilting in the blocks--all done with rulers

Once this was quilted, the binding went on and I'm just about done hand sewing that in place.

On to the next one. The bins of four patches I make as leader/enders was overflowing so I looked for a block pattern to use some. I thought I liked this enough to make a large quilt but when 12 blocks were done I knew that was enough. I just didn't love it that much--this baby size was plenty:

The body of the quilt is quilted with a simple straight line cross hatch grid, using Geraldine's ruler. 

I want to get better at feathers and this was the perfect quilt for them--the busy border fabric won't show much and I was free to play with feathers. 

First I used another ruler I have with a curvy edge to quilt the spine of the feather plume. Then I drew lines on paper the finished size of the border, added that same spine, and drew the feathers with a pencil. This helped me see which way to quilt them and served as a reference as I was quilting:

All in all, I was pleased with how the feathers turned out:

From the back so you can see them

The front

Now I am hand sewing the binding in place and this will be done. Waiting for a baby who needs a quilt with a mother who likes old-timey fabrics. And I am still looking for a way to use the hundreds of four patches from bright fabrics:

I am enjoying online classes for free motion and ruler work quilting. Here is a little more from those:

Learning new designs will give me more options as I finish more than a few tops I have made.

Do you quilt your own? What is your favorite method?

Let's quilt.

Barbara

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Out with the old, in with the new. Or, in my case, celebrate finishing this OLD quilt top I began designing almost 30 years ago, so OLD but now it feels really NEW:

Star of Texas, about 72" square

This has been on my bucket list for all these years. Read more about it here:  Star of Texas

Here are my two Game On! quilts, both through month 7, now all I have to do is write the blogs for each month. It is not too late for you to start--this is SO MUCH FUN:

                                                        

Now that I am pretty far along on Game On! I can concentrate on a few more projects I really want to complete this year.

My Old Italian Block Lifetime Quilt is the next top to make:

All 290 of the 3" blocks are done--now it's on to the design wall this week

Quilting needs to be done on Diamond Jubilee:

And soon I will start two online courses on ruler quilting with these two quilts:

panel for Angela Walters class on Arcs and Curves

Quilt of Valor to use for Natalia Bonner's class on 99 strip designs

There is always more to create and I have to come up with my NEXT Lifetime/Leader-Ender quilt project. I have a few ideas. Stay tuned.

Since I am home until mid-March I am determined to get as much done as possible. 

My words for 2026 are "RENEW" and "REBUILD". I don't usually pick a word but was challenged to do so by a friend. These seemed to ring true for 2026.

Do you pick a "word of the year"? 

What do you plan to achieve in 2026? Just keep going, that's my plan.

Happy New Year to all!

Let's quilt.

Barbara

ON THE LILY POND IN PROGRESS

 As you read this, I am traveling home from Houston, TX after teaching 3 amazing classes to wonderful, enthusiastic quilters.  Look for a big post about that next week.

Before I left, I began to machine quilt On the Lily Pond, my latest pattern and quilt class sample. I first wrote about this quilt in August, with photos of the antique quilt I own that inspired it. Find that post here:

A New Old Quilt

Here are some photos to show you the process.

1. The top is done, about 76" square:

2. On to basting with safety pins, my least favorite part of the quiltmaking process. Mr. BB often helps:

3. Bobbin thread of choice for me is Superior's Bottom Line, a color to match the back, #653. For stitch in the ditch, I use Superior's Microquilter 100 wt thread or Quilters Select 80 wt thread--depending on the color I need--here I used QS 80, color #730. For quilting motifs/designs I often use Superior's So Fine 50 wt thread--color # 491 a soft pink, blends nicely on the front: 

4. First, I stitched in the ditch as the quilt was constructed. This supports and stabilizes the quilt and allows me to begin removing some pins. The empty spaces show the stitch in the ditch grid:

5. Once all the stitch in the ditch was done, I started on the pieced blocks. It took a few blocks to get the best "path" figured out. I want to minimize starts and stops and backtracking:

6. After I was satisfied with the design/path for the pieced blocks, I worked on the design for a Feathered Wreath in the 7.5" open blocks. This is where having a wide variety of stencils and quilting design books comes in handy. One for the outside ring of feathers, one for the inside ring, and I'm all set:

I am trying to get better at feathers as I LOVE them. With 25 blocks, 20 half block triangles, and 4 quarter block corners, I figured I would get better or give up. I am seeing improvement so practice does make "better". AND, the entire outer borders, pink/white, will be filled with a Feathered Vine:

7. Marking should be done as little as possible since every mark made is one that has to be removed later. I used a blue washout marker until it ran out then used a grey chalk pencil to draw a few guidelines for the feathered wreath. I was able to fill in the feathers from those guidelines much easier than trying to machine quilt on a drawn line:

8. I love ruler work and use it every chance I get. Stitch in the ditch is all ruler work using a fantastic tool, the Line Tamer by FourPawsquilting.com. The circle on the feathered wreath was done with a Good Measure Circle template. And for free motion I adore Grip-Its by sewingmates.com, two palm size "handles" with rubber grippy things on the bottom. They replace gloves, I simply rest my hands on them to guide the quilt as I stitch. They are indispensable to me:

9. There is still a good bit to go but I am on target for completion by Thanksgiving. The binding and sleeve are made, the pattern is written and all I have to do is complete the quilting, bind it, and update the pattern cover with a professional photograph of the finished quilt. 

Front:

Back:

I have written about machine quilting many times. Use the SEARCH box in the upper left, the orange B, for Ruler work, machine quilting, Bernina Q20--all of those searches will bring up previous posts. Here is a good one on Ruler work, there are many more:

Ruler Work -- the Basics

Stay tuned when this quilt is done for photos of the completed quilt.

I will be teaching this locally in 2024 AND on the New England/Canada cruise with Stitchin Heaven, September 4-13, 2025. Once registration opens for that cruise, I will make a big announcement--it will FILL QUICKLY, I already know several friends who plan to join me on that cruise.

My Alaska cruise, August 9-16, 2024 is SOLD OUT--there could be a Waitlist if you still hope to come on that one. See my class quilt for that trip HERE:

Let's Go to Alaska!

Let's quilt.

Barbara

GARDEN PARTY DOWN UNDER -- QUILTING IDEAS

Many people have gotten their Garden Party Down Under top finished and are starting to think about the quilting process. See some of these tops on the Forum topic: Show Your Completed Top Here, you do not have to be a Star Member to see quilts on the Forum.

Here is mine, made in 2021 with the help of 8 of the beloved Sunday Sew and Sews. This photo was taken on the set while taping The Quilt Show in August 2021:

I quilted it on my Bernina Q20 sit down long arm machine. Here are some detail shots:

The Back--a busy print hides a lot of things better left hidden, and thread changes if there are any:

Resting on the spare bed after all the quilting was done:

A variety of thread colors and weights. The majority of the quilting was done with Superior's Microquilter in white on the top, and Bottom Line in the bobbin. Accent colors were used on the vases and larger motifs: 

I love ruler work so I often develop continuous designs using rulers that move nicely across the quilt. Using a circle I was able to move from one end of the diamond borders to the other, then go back in the opposite direction, creating a flowing curving design that complements the diamonds: 

See the same design used on the Dogtooth borders around the center:

Here is my basic process when quilting:

1. Good basting is imperative. I use safety pins and most often baste on my dining room table. I tape the back firmly to the table, wrong side up, using painter's tape at the top and bottom. Clamps are used to hold the edges securely to the left and right sides of the table. The batting is laid on top of the back, followed by the top, right side up--it helps to have another set of hands to spread out the batting and top. After pinning the middle, I untape/unclamp the quilt, and slide it to one side, retape/reclamp then pin that side. Repeat for the opposite side. After all the pinning, check to be sure you have no puckers/pleats basted into the back--they have to be fixed. I tend to get them near the corners. 

2. Make a small test "sandwich" with the same back and batting and some of the top fabrics so you can test the thread color and tension before you begin. I write a note for tension setting for each thread so I can get it correct each time I work on the quilt. This project took almost two weeks to quilt, a few hours a day.

2. I used Microquilter thread in the top and Bottom Line in the bobbin, white in both, for the majority of the quilting. The first step is to quilt straight lines from top to bottom, starting at the middle of the quilt. I pretty much follow the seam lines the same way the top was constructed. This serves to stabilize the quilt, allowing some of the safety pins to be removed. My favorite ruler for straight quilting is the Line Tamer by Four Paws Quilting, a great ruler. 

3. After all the straight line quilting was done in all directions, I thought about how to quilt each block. I If the background fabric had a good design, I followed that--like swirls or straight lines. If I needed to create a design, I played with a piece of plexiglass and a dry eraser marker to "audition" designs directly on the quilt--be sure to wrap the edges in painters tape so you don't overshoot the edge of plexiglass with the pen--a disaster you don't need. Designs can be tried out, erased and more designs tried again and again until you like what you see: 

4. Very little quilting was required on the motifs since most are small. The vases are large and need some quilting to secure them. I played with the plexiglass, drawing curvy shapes on the vases to try to give the vase some "round" dimension. While quilting the background of each block, I got close to the appliques, echoing them to help them stand out.

5. The borders were perfect for using a circle template (ruler) to create curving designs that move from one end of the borders to the others. 

6. The two small "floater" borders were the perfect place for some circles. I freehand quilted them: 

I  have written about my quilting process several times before:

Ruler Work -- My Favorite Kind of Quilting

Blueberry Hill -- the Quilting

Ruler Work -- the Basics   this is a long post and has LOTS of information.

UPDATE--on the December 2, 2022 LIVE broadcast I was asked about the corner flowers and my label. Here is the corner flower, with simple echo quilting on the background and around the shapes:

I make permanent labels for all my quilts. Find my TUTORIAL for LABELS HERE  My label:

This is one of my most favorite quilts. I love the fabrics. I love the design. l am happy with the quilting. And I LOVE the friends who helped me make the top:

You can find some photos of the quilting on Irene Blanck's quilt in our Gallery of Quilts: Monthly Guide . These photos were used for the Monthly patterns. Irene's quilt was quilted by Australian Longarm quilter Rebecca Rae. Find her on Instagram as @astitchnline_machinequilting.

Remember. the patterns for GARDEN PARTY DOWN UNDER are only FREE FOR STAR MEMBERS until December 31, 2022. After this year, the designer regains the rights to the patterns and you will have to buy them from her.

If you join The Quilt Show now, you can still download/save all 12 months of Garden Party Down Under and be ready to jump right in to the 2023 Block of the Month quilt, Homeward Bound, beginning January 1, 2023: 

Let's quilt.

Barbara