QUILTsocial | Issue 03 Spring 2015

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Designing tools Snowball blocks in the corners Intertwined block through the middle Designing Quilt Patterns Now that the blocks have been created for the What’s Good for the Gal is Good for the Guy quilt challenge, I'll back up a bit and explain how I came up with the design for this quilt. Designing the “challenge” quilt was definitely a challenge. It took time to figure out what it was going to look like, which is part of the fun of designing quilt patterns. Because the person for whom I designed the quilt has a logical thinking mind, likes engineering, and the double helix, I figured it should be a geometrical design with several different shapes in it. But, they all needed to blend together to form a cohesive and eye pleasing design. There are many different kinds of software available to help us create designs. Pfaff has one called 5D QuiltDesign Creator. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a copy, so I decided to stick with the good old standby of paper, pencil, pencil crayons, and eraser to create my design. Designing on Paper I have my blocks designed and, now, it’s just a matter of deciding where to put them in the quilt. I had already decided the snowball block would be along the outer corners of the quilt. I drew a 7 x 7 row grid on a piece of paper and then drew in the snowball blocks and the background blocks. My idea was to have the intertwined block going from the edge of the quilt to the center. I’d made 12 of them so that meant three from each edge down Q 12 ● .com spring <strong>2015</strong> UILTsocial into the center. By drawing them into the layout, the piece is starting to come together. Normally, I start my design from the center and work out, but this time I’ve designed from the outside in. I love how they look a bit like a double helix when placed together – definitely the look I was wanting. The hour glass blocks will go between the snowball blocks and the intertwined blocks. I decided to place one vertically and one horizontally. Because of the angle the pieces were cut on, the blocks create the illusion of a circle in the center of the quilt. One of my favorite things about quilting is how blocks give illusions of shapes and movement within a quilt. With the design mostly complete, I can sew the blocks together in sections on the Pfaff Creative 4.5. With the IDT system engaged, I’ll be able to sew the blocks together with no problems and no pinning required. One of the best parts about the IDT system is it feeds everything through evenly and smoothly matching the seams up pretty much every time. I’ll use the quarter-inch foot with the guide to sew the blocks together into nine sections. Designing the last 9 inches Now that the sections are sewn together and the design of the challenge quilt is almost complete, I can add in the last nine inches of the quilt. The quilt is to be 72-inches square and right now it’s only 63-inches square. The outer edge of the quilt isn’t going to be a border but an extension of some of the blocks, as if they’re running off the edge. It’s going to look a bit like this: extend the snowball blocks with a single strip to the edge of the quilt, as well as, one section of the intertwined block to create the look I’m after. Sewing the final 9 inches I start sewing the pieces together to create the last bit of the quilt and, suddenly, the Creative 4.5 whistles, stops, and gives me this message on the home screen: bobbin thread low. With the bobbin easily visualized through the clear bobbin cover, I continue to sew. I thought that clicking the check mark on the “bobbin thread low” message would be a confirmation that I was aware. But, as soon as I started sewing again, the message came up again so it had to remain on the screen. I continued sewing thinking that the machine would stop when the bobbin ran out. Nope, it just kept on sewing. But, the sound of the sewing changed, which alerted me to the fact the bobbin was now empty. Winding the bobbin Since I didn’t have a second spool of this color of thread, I decided to wind the bobbin with the machine still threaded.
Hour glass block added to design Extension of design all the way around Blocks sewn into sections I took the thread out of the needle, which is recommend to prevent the needle from bending and snapping in two while the bobbin is winding. It’s never a good thing to have sharp objects flying around! Then, I thread the thread back up the left hand thread guide of the machine and through the bobbin guide at the top. Also, make sure the presser foot is in the up position. Once the bobbin is in place, a “wind bobbin” message comes up on the screen. I clicked start with the stylet. Pressing the foot pedal does not work; it just makes the needle go up and down – I did that first. I love this feature of not having to unthread the machine to wind another bobbin. Reverse back tacking Since the bobbin ran out in the middle of the seam, I wanted to back tack to make sure nothing comes apart down the road. Normally, in quilting, there is not much back tacking done because seams are usually caught with another seam. To back tack, press the reverse button, which is found at the bottom of the machine near the presser foot. It only needs to be pressed a couple seconds then continue sewing forward. Pieces for the missing 9 inches Clear bobbin case allows me to see the bobbin easily Bobbin thread low message Reverse threading to wind the bobbin Bobbin winding icon Q Reverse button UILTsocial .com ● spring <strong>2015</strong> 13
Page 1 and 2: Q .c Spring 2015 • 7 quilting des
Page 3 and 4: Editor's letter scissors measuring
Page 5 and 6: 48 36 c o n t e n t s Jennifer Houl
Page 7 and 8: What’s good for the gal, is good
Page 9 and 10: Pieces ready for sewing with the qu
Page 11: I like to glue my first fabric piec
Page 15 and 16: Lots of hexagons Cut shapes along t
Page 17 and 18: Sewing the applique shapes After sp
Page 19 and 20: The denim 'corner' pocket sewn on t
Page 21 and 22: good for the guy... Constellation Q
Page 23 and 24: good for the gal... Elaine Theriaul
Page 25 and 26: Get more quilting fun in A NEEDLE P
Page 27 and 28: Prepping the Ruby Royale I installe
Page 29 and 30: Sew Fancy Inc. Quilting design from
Page 31 and 32: Next up was to add some mortar to t
Page 33 and 34: Choosing the lettering was easy as
Page 35 and 36: Quilting on the message on the back
Page 37 and 38: skill level intermediate finished m
Page 39 and 40: Q UILTsocial .com … eat, sleep, q
Page 41 and 42: Happy Spring Banner Cheryl Stranges
Page 43 and 44: 3. Remove the fabric and stabilizer
Page 45 and 46: picking fabrics Flowers are a breat
Page 47 and 48: 6 5 4 Tulip Template Trace 3 of eac
Page 49 and 50: BANNERS OF F Visit our booth and: V
Page 51 and 52: Finish up some quilting projects...
Page 53 and 54: Pressing using a pressing sheet Art
Page 55 and 56: Closeup of machine stitching on the
Page 57 and 58: Now to sew on the binding Now that
Page 59 and 60: Only Spooling Around Nancy Devine N
Page 61 and 62: Quilting the Only Spooling Around t
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Canada’s most trusted notions bra
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Q UILTsocial .com ● spring 2015 6
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QUILTsocial | Issue 03 Spring 2015

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