QUILTsocial Issue 12

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Do you think it was the worth the effort? The quilt now hangs flat. I’m happy. While there’s still a touch of waviness on the left-hand side, the wall hanging looks significantly better. I’m glad I took the time. And now when I see the quilt hanging on the wall, I don’t hear it taunting me at all. So what did I do differently the second time around? While I used the Dual Feed Foot both times, the second time, I gently pulled the binding as I sew it. That helped to ensure there was NO extra binding being stitched to the quilt. I suppose if you wanted to get really scientific about the process, you could measure the sides of the quilt and ensure that the exact amount of binding gets stitched to each side of the quilt. I’m not sure I want to fuss with my quilts to that extent. I’m going to think about that process and see what I come up with. The binding is a very important part of the quilt and I don’t want the binding to distort my projects. Sewing the binding before you trim the quilt This last area is a bit of a gray area for me, but it’s been on my mind so I thought I would discuss it. Should you sew the binding on a quilt before you trim it? Hmm – I asked around to see why people did that. I wanted to find out if this process makes a better binding. I have a couple of questions about this method. How can you make sure the quilt is square or at least the corners are square? After asking around, there seems to be a couple of reasons that people would sew the binding on before trimming. One is to help secure the raw edges of the three layers together. Hm – I think that would be easy enough to zigzag around the edges to keep everything secure. I did touch on that technique in my posts, 7 essential tips on sewing on the binding on a quilt by machine. The second reason was to help ensure that the binding was completely filled with the quilt. This actually surprised me a little bit because if you want a full binding, why wouldn’t you adjust the seam allowance to ensure that the binding was going to be full? I think the issue here is that many sets of instructions will have you cut 2½” strips for the binding and then have you sew the binding on with a ¼” seam. That will leave a large gap in the binding for sure. But if you use 2½” strips and sew with a GENEROUS ¼” seam allowance, there’s NO gap. It’s interesting how we learn to do things one way and it takes a big change in mindset to even realize that there are other possibilities. I was wanted to try the technique and I had a small quilted project that hadn’t yet been trimmed. However, when I got to thinking about sewing the binding on, I realized that I always sew my binding to the BACK of the quilt first and then machine stitch it to the front. I think you can see that this technique will not work with 100% machine binding. That means that all my quilts will be trimmed before the binding is sewn on. I’m glad I asked the question. I’ve had a chance to think through the process and I feel happy with my decision. That allows me to square up the corners and make sure the top is the same width as the bottom and that the two sides are equal. With all the batting and extra backing hanging off the quilt, that process just seems a whole lot harder. Prepping to sew the binding to the quilt BEFORE the quilt is trimmed. Wow – don’t you love when we think outside the box? Try new things or at least think about new ways to do old things. Let’s not forget that we figured out how to fix wavy binding. But we don’t really want to fix it, we want to avoid it! All the of the projects here were bound or quilted using the Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby deLuxe. I will be touching on some quilting tips and techniques for the remainder of the feature. I’ve discovered some pretty exciting stuff. Q 42 .com| issue <strong>12</strong> UILTsocial
11 essential tips for machine quilting What I love about quilting is that there is NO right or wrong way to do anything. It really depends on the look that you want, what tools you have available to you, and what skills you have learned along the way. One thing about having good tools is they make you look great even if you don’t have all the skills. That’s the case with the Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby deLuxe. I’m a good sewist, but with this machine, I’m a fabulous sewist! I was busy quilting up some small wallhangings and table runners the other day and I thought I would share my tips for machine quilting with you. I’ll confess that I don’t often sit down to machine quilt on a domestic sewing machine. My skills were a bit rusty when I started but by the end of the day, my muscle memories kicked in and I was doing great. Here’s the thing – I used to hate machine quilting on a domestic sewing machine (GASP!). Yes, there were two reasons. The first one was that my shoulders and neck would be in pain after 40 minutes or so. That would never do, so I tended to put quilting off. I’m happy to report that I quilted for a long time that day (after doing three projects) and I had no issues. When I realized that, I was doing a happy dance. Why didn’t I experience any pain? I checked my arms – they were BESIDE me, not flapping up in the air as they usually do. I think my chair was higher! The second reason that I was put off by quilting on a domestic sewing machine was the quality of the stitches that I was getting on my sewing machine. Skipped stitches was a big issue for me and although I tried many things to resolve the issue, I was never 100% happy. Well after three projects, there wasn’t a SINGLE SKIPPED stitch. You know – I might just like this machine quilting on a domestic after all!!! Now that I’ve shared that with you, let’s get down to those tips. 1. You need space around the sewing machine to support the quilt Whether you’re doing stitch in the ditch or free motion, you need some space around the sewing machine to support your work. Doesn’t matter if your project is big or small, you need space around the sewing machine to support your work. I love the optional extension table that you can get for the Designer Ruby deLuxe. You don’t need a lot of space, but you need space. The smooth, curved front of the extension table makes for easy movement of your quilting project. And it’s great for piecing as well. Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby deLuxe with optional extension table The wallhanging is supported by the extension table during the quilting process. 2. Always bring the bobbin thread to the top of the project It’s easy to bring the bobbin thread to the top of your work. With your quilt positioned under the needle where you want to start, hold the top thread in your left hand, touch the Needle Stop Up/ Down function twice and a loop of the bobbin thread will come to the surface of your project. Pull the bobbin thread so the end tail is completely on top and then you can start. You’ll never get a thread nest on the back of your work if you use this technique. The bobbin thread has been pulled through the quilt layers to sit on the surface. 3. How to manage stops and starts with variegated thread Let’s say you’re quilting away and your bobbin runs out – hey it happens. Easy to pop in a new bobbin, but you’re using variegated thread. After you cut the top thread in order to get started again and you’ve popped in a new bobbin, you realize that the last bit of top thread was green and now you see blue. If you just started to quilt with those two different colors, the join will look nasty. Simply pull on the top thread until the same color appears that you ended with and you’re good to continue stitching. Pull on the variegated thread until it matches the color found at the spot you had to stop. Q .com| UILTsocial issue <strong>12</strong> 43
Page 1 and 2: Q .c ISSUE12 UILTsocial …eat, sle
Page 3 and 4: editor's letter You might remember
Page 5 and 6: QUILTsocial issue 12 c o n t e n t
Page 7 and 8: The codes for my six choices are:
Page 9 and 10: Quarter triangle units Make Middle
Page 11 and 12: Add Borders Sew one Fabric D - 1½
Page 13 and 14: To start make a block with the Fabr
Page 15 and 16: Prepare Back Panels The top back pa
Page 17 and 18: Northcott Black and White with a Da
Page 19 and 20: Both techniques have been used in t
Page 21 and 22: For this technique I like to use 50
Page 23 and 24: This flower petal is pretty but we
Page 25 and 26: At the moment I have the machine on
Page 27 and 28: 6 awesome features to love on the D
Page 29 and 30: The sewing machine help key The typ
Page 31 and 32: When both sides have been stitched,
Page 33 and 34: 33
Page 35 and 36: In the photo below, I’m sewing bi
Page 37 and 38: The Needle Threader I was a big use
Page 39 and 40: 3 tattle tale experiments on bindin
Page 41: I felt the edges were just a tad to
Page 45 and 46: Gütermann threads: the beige spool
Page 47 and 48: Step 5 - CHECK the back I’m sound
Page 49 and 50: A note about density When you draw
Page 51 and 52: A closer look at the quilting aroun
Page 53 and 54: Cutting out the pattern using a rot
Page 55 and 56: quilting 3. Using Fabric C rectangl
Page 57 and 58: 57
Page 59 and 60: Ketan, pronounced “kay-tan,” is
Page 61 and 62: Dual Duty XP® combines superior st
Page 63 and 64: The Ultimate Accessory that Fits Vi

QUILTsocial Issue 12

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