Quilt Class-Graduation Day

  Well class, today is graduation day.  If you continue to practice, practice, practice within a few months you will feel confident enough in your quilting skills to ask your friends to let you do their table topper sized quilts.  And they won't see any of the flaws that you will know are there.
   Before class ends I wanted to share with you what to me is the hardest part of quilting.  Figuring out what to sew on a quilt.   I use many resources but my stash of quilting books are my favorite go to.

If you think the paper practicing is over, well I hate to tell you that to this day I fill sheets of paper with quilting design sketches.

The practice makes me confident that when I put thread to fabric (especially for someone else) the design will fit and add to the quilt not detract from it.
   As your quilting teacher this week I am so proud of all of you who came to class, did your homework and messaged me with your results.  Congratulations you have all passed with an A and a gold star.  Keep quilting and have a safe Labor Day weekend.  Laural

Quilt Class #4

Time to sew.  Posture is important, relax your shoulders, your neck and sit up straight in your chair.  Good lighting is a must, invest in an Ott light if there isn't enough lighting in your sewing area.  Remember to take breaks, get up and stretch.  This "hobby" can be grueling on your body.  Before we begin I wanted to show you this tip...I wrap a piece of dryer sheet around the very first loop that my thread passes through.  This helps keep the amount of lint that ends up in the bobbin case somewhat under control.

Today let us practice those same E's and C's we have been drawing on paper.  First the cursive E.  Do not focus on speed, foot pedal or the length of your stitches, that will come in time.  Concentrate on the smoothness of the maneuvers you are making.  Picture those cursive E's as you move your fabric around and around.  Fill that sandwich with them.

When you have finished either change sandwiches or continue on the same one and start practicing your cursive C.  It can become an S if you like just work on those curves, smooth them out.  That may mean slowing down as you approach the curve or barreling through it.  Just fill your work area with them.

I do not have any tricks to make you a really good quilter.  This is something that takes hours a day of practice.  Yes, you heard me hours.  But as you get comfortable with the alphabet its time to start working on those stitches.  You will have a nice stitch when the speed of your hands meets the speed of your foot pedal, you can almost hear it happen.  

The stipple-when you are ready start turning the C's into the most common of the meanders the stipple. This "puzzle piece" design is meant to fill large areas of quilts.  The thing I think about the most when doing mine is "Don't cross your lines" and "Don't stitch them in nice neat even rows.

Your E's will eventually become a meander that looks like this.  I use it quite often in one form or another.   

 Once you have mastered the E meander you can add a star.  Just like the ones you did in grade school.

 Or a flower with a leaf, the options are endless with this meander.

 Before we end for the day I wanted to show you two techniques for sewing straight.  The first is used when making grid lines on a quilt.  Use blue painters tape to mark the quilt top.  I only use a few pieces at a time because they tend to peel up if the quilt is large.

 When you pull the tape off you have a nice straight grid, in even rows.

 Lastly, use your walking foot to stitch in the ditch or around your blocks.  Its a great way to highlight the work you have done on those blocks.

Well, we have one lesson left.  I hope you come back on Friday for graduation.  Take care,  Laural

Quilting Class #3

Let's make a sandwich.   We need to take what we have learned and begin to sew.  So grab that queen sized applique' quilt top you have been working on for two years and lets practice!  Well, of course not, and that's where those sandwiches come in handy.   Take a fairly good sized piece of fabric and place the same size piece of batting on top.  Place a smaller piece of fabric in the center of the batting, fold back one edge, spray lightly with 505.

 As you will do when this is a large quilt begin at the center and smooth outwards toward edges.  Spray the other end and repeat the smoothing.

 Gloves, every book and or teacher I have had has said to wear quilting gloves.  So I did.  These are from Fons and Porter, but as you can see I ended up cutting the fingers off and eventually I tossed them aside.  It is strictly a personal preference, I like to feel the fabric as I move it.   Others swear they get a good grip, so I'm leaving this to you.

 When you begin doing your own quilts I wanted to show you how to bring your bobbin thread up from the back.  Insert your needle into your sandwich.

 Now bring it up holding onto the top thread end.  Move your quilt slightly away from the foot, remember you are now in charge of that fabric.  And up will pop the bobbin thread.

 Grab both ends and reposition your needle on top of the original hole.  When you begin sewing you will hold tight to the thread for 3 or 4 stitches.   If you look back through my tutorials I show you how to tie off these threads.  For practice purposes just begin at the edge of your sandwich and begin sewing.

Todays homework is make a stack of sandwiches and continue training your brain on paper.  Also I was so pleased to hear from a fellow blogger that she has posted her first sewing attempts.  When we conclude our lessons I hope there will be others who will send me links or emails of any quilting you might have attempted.

Quilting Class #2

   Good morning students.  I hope you got your homework done, studying your machine, dropping those feed dogs, well oiled??  Then lets proceed with lesson #2.  I hope you like to draw.  Quilting is a process of retraining your brain to become a sewing machine.  The best way to do this is to get your hands and brain used to working together in a sewing way.  Today's lesson is pencil and paper and practice cursive letter "E" as shown below.  Fill the page over and over, get your brain so used to making this motion.

 And then fill a page with cursive "C".   This is what doodling was meant to be.

 Eventually your "C"'s will become the smooth lines of a stipple.

 And your "E"'s will make a nice meander that will eventually be a standard in your designs.

Anybody remember that movie Karate Kid?  Well girls this is the wax on wax off process of quilting.  You didn't think we were just going to throw a quilt on and sew did you?  Please practice your letters on paper. I cannot stress enough that when you are quilting and concentrating on speed, tension, even stitches you will need your brain to go on cruise control and remember the pattern you want to sew.  See you tomorrow for lesson #3.

School Days-Learn to Quilt Class #1

   Why should the kids be the only ones going back to school?  Join me each day this week for a brief lesson on how to quilt.  I will provide you with as many tips as I can and your input would be greatly appreciate.  Go grab a cup of coffee and lets begin.
Tools of the Trade.  I cannot quilt on my home machine without these items.  #1 A new needle for every large project.  This prevents thread breakage and improves the look of your stitches.  #2 Quilting Foot.  Most of the new machines come with this foot, mine did not and I had to purchase one.  #3 Oil.  Every time you replace the bobbin you must put in a drop of oil.  #4 Teflon disks for inside bobbin case.  #5  505 spray adhesive.  This is what I use to baste my quilts and keep them in place while I manipulate the fabric.

Thread, each machine is different you will have to practice with different threads and see what works best with your machine.  I use 100% cotton 40, 50 or 60 weight.  I use the same thread weight in the bobbin and try very hard to use the same color in both.  To choose the color for your quilt lay out a length of thread across your quilt until you find the one that blends the best with all the colors of the quilt.

Know your machine.  Get that hand book out and teach yourself how to A-put on a quilting foot, B-thread tension settings for quilting and C-how to lower your feed dogs.  This is my Baby lock machine and since it is made specifically for quilting right on the front is this diagram and lever for lowering the feed dogs.

 If your machine has this feature, make sure that you use Needle Down.  As shown below.  When you are quilting there will be starting and stopping.  Without the needle down it is highly likely that you will get a large uneven stitch when you stop.

Machine Throat Space.  As stated I began quilting when I purchased my Babylock expanded throat machine.  It does not have stitch regulator but the opening between needle and machine is a few inches larger than most home machines.  This allows me to quilt much larger surface areas at a time.

So your homework is to gather these items, familiarize yourself with your machine and the parts that you will be using.  Tomorrow come back with pen and paper for your first quilting stitches practice.  Laural