Machine Quilting Unlimited - Special Edition - Winter 2011

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to another. Keep in mind, however, that if your
motif requires much backtracking, you will lose
the gradual color shift and end up with abrupt
color jumps instead.
Quilt Away
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Now that you have a plan, you can really get
started. I will step you through the blocks in my
sampler to illustrate how you can treat each type
of patchwork. If the blocks are joined to each
other rather than being separated by sashing,
you can quilt from one section into another
without adding a start/stop point. With a little
forethought, you can quilt the whole quilt in
one pass, stopping only to refill your
bobbin.
Close the path to
finish quilting.
Repeat sequence
for each segment.
Continuous Curved
Quilting
Double Nine Patch blocks are made
up only of squares of two sizes.
Traditionally these squares might
be quilted by echoing the seam
line on ¼ inch inside each patch.
By replacing the straight lines
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with gentle curves, you can alter this style for
machine quilting. Each arch starts and ends at
a seam intersection and comes into the patch to
the same ¼ inch margin. The arches are connected
end to end to allow a continuous curved
line of quilting through the block, following
from one seam line to another until the block is
completed. (Image 5) Notice that I have made
S-curves that undulate along the seam line
rather than clamshells that come to sharp V’s.
It is much easier to aim for an intersection and
stitch through it rather than to stitch into a
point where you have to abruptly change direction.
The only time I have to quilt these clam
shells is where only a single side of the patch
remains to be quilted.
Before you start this step, it is quite helpful to
sketch the block on paper and map out your
intended pathway. (Image 6) Did you outline all
the patches on all the sides? Keep this map handy
in case you need to go back to it. If, while you are
quilting, you find that you have missed a section,
slip a safety pin into the spot and go back to it
later. By winding your way from one block into
another at the corners, you may be able to connect
the blocks with a maze of soft curves that
create a wonderful design on the reverse of the
quilt. Leave an escape route open in your path
until all the blocks are quilted. You should be
able to work your way back to where you stared
by leaving the last side un-quilted until you run
out of seams to follow.
In addition to the curved lines of quilting
along the seam lines, I filled each of the larger
squares with a leaf. I was able to complete
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