QUILTsocial Issue 12

Grid lines (of quilting) will intersect the embroidery
motif
Step 2 Stabilize the quilt
Because I’m lazy, I’m not a huge fan of
basting smaller items before I start to
quilt them. This quilt top measures 24’’
x 32’’ and I did not technically baste it.
I did press the three layers (backing,
batting and quilt top) together on both
the front and the back. I’ll explain what
other things I do to prevent shifting as I
go through the quilting process. I’m not
saying that you should do what I do, but
I just find it a hassle to baste these small
things and my method prevents tucks
and mishaps from occurring.
I did stick a few straight pins into the
piece before I started to quilt for a little
bit of security. Should you choose to
give this method a try, you must iron
both the front and the back and DO NOT
FOLD the piece after you’ve done that.
Folding can cause ripples on the front or
the back.
For this particular piece, I attached the
Dual Feed foot to the Designer Ruby
deLuxe. I used an invisible thread (clear)
on top and a regular piecing thread that
matched the quilt back (green) for the
bobbin thread.
I don’t like to start with the free motion.
I like to work up to that. If I’m only going
to do free motion quilting, then I have
no choice but to start with that. My
preference is to stabilize with as much
stitch in the ditch or straight line quilting
that I’m going to do on the piece.
The first thing I did here was to stitch
in the ditch where the flange meets
the border. On a large quilt, I would
NEVER pivot at the corners, but this
piece was small enough that I could
get away with pivoting.
Notice that there is LOADS of room
under the arm of the Designer Ruby
deLuxe so there was no pushing
or shoving required. The more you
manipulate your quilt, the more you may
have issues with the backing and tucks.
Stitching in the ditch with invisible thread on top.
3. CHECK the back
This is absolutely critical to the success
of the work whether you baste or not.
CHECK the back. Check it often – check
it after every step. If there’s an issue, you
can fix it right then. If you don’t, you
can be guaranteed that the back will be
messed up.
You may want to press the top and
back again. Press gently so you don’t
compress the batting (remember this is
a wall hanging so a little flatter batting is
OK). Press away from the center so any
fullness is pushed to the outside edges.
As mentioned, I did NOT baste this piece
and I didn’t have to rip a single stitch out
for any reason.
4. Continue with the stitch in the ditch
I’ve now stitched around the flange
and I’ve checked the back. No tucks, no
ripples. I know that the fabric inside that
center block on the front and back isn’t
going to do anything as it’s now well
stabilized on all four sides. And yes that
block is big, almost 12’’ x 20’’!
I like to get all the straight line quilting
done first, so it was onto quilting the
border. Again, I stitched in the ditch
using invisible thread (clear) on the top
and green piecing thread in the bobbin. I
did not have to adjust the tension at all.
I had to do three separate lines of
quilting to complete the stitch in the
ditch on the border. Since I was on the
edge of the quilt, it was easy to pivot on
those angles and no need for pushing
and shoving under the arm of the
sewing machine. If you have to push and
shove that quilt under the arm, you’re
not doing yourself any favors. Don’t do it!
Notice in the picture below that
I’m using quilter’s gloves to better
manipulate the quilt. I also gently spread
the seams apart when I’m stitching in
the ditch. That helps to hide the thread
into the valley (the opposite side from
which the seam allowance was pressed).
Using quilting gloves to help manipulate the quilt
when stitching in the ditch.
Q
46 .com| issue 12
UILTsocial