Quilt as I go - Part II

Okay, I've ironed the backing section and smoothed out the batting. I place the backing with wrong side up and position the batting piece on it. Then I lay the sewn quilt blocks (3 rows by 7 blocks) on top and smooth all over. I pin the sides of the sandwich, turn it over and check the back to see that it is smooth and then pin the entire top.

Now I take the sandwich to my machine. I will use the same kind of thread in the bobbin as on top. I am using wonderfil Invisifil white and a 60/8 needle. I have the straight stitch plate and my darning foot ready for free motion quilting. You can see this segment is just the right size for the throat of my machine:

Since these are pieced blocks I'm going to do a medium meander across the rows. I just have to remember to slow down my movement on the curves and I'll have more even stitches. I get tense when I'm free-motioning and I have to remember to relax my shoulders and drop my arms to a more relaxed position. Helps, too, if I don't hunch over the machine and breathe - LOL. I'm going to quilt the middle row first. Here's a close up of the meander.

I'll finish quilting this section and make the other 3 row one. Then I'll be back with Part III of Quilt as I go.

Quilting as I go, Part 1

Hello, I went to see Julie and Julia the other day, and I just loved it. Since I can't get a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking at this time (Borders has sold out, all the copies at the library are on loan - can't even interlibrary loan it), I'm going to set a quilting goal rather than a cooking goal (I was only going to make a few recipes - LOL) like Julie in the movie.

I've decided to chronicle my "quilting as I go method" for getting quilts done with my Bernina. Yes, I have taken some to long arm quilters to do, but I've become intrigued in doing these at home. I read an article by Diane Gaudinski and she has me in awe for the fabulous work she does on her home machine. So after reading books by Diane, Kaye Wood, Marti Michell, Georgia Bonesteel, Betty Cotton, Sharon Pederson and others, I decided to try quilting my own tops. Here are two I have already done this way - posted in order made:

So first thing I do is take out the batting I will need for the quilt, wash it, dry it and plan how I am going to cut up the batting for the number of sections the quilt will have. I like to use batting that is 80% cotton and 20% polyester. I find that this doesn't shift as much as others and makes for smooth backs.

For UFO #5- I have decided on seven sections. I've already taken the blocks down from the design wall, so I can't show you that. So on paper I figure out what I need. This is just breaking the quilt down to segments that are easy to handle in my machine. The center has 70 blocks, so I decided on three sections. My squares are 6"squares finished. So one section is 4 rows by seven blocks And there are 2 sections 3 rows by 7 blocks. The other 4 sections will be borders. I add 2 inches extra to the batting and backing sections so that they extend beyond the quilt segments. With planning on graph paper, I can cut all segments from a twin batting measuring 72"by 90". It's not a complicated as it reads once you've done it.

Now I like to have a patchwork back, so I look in my stash for three interesting fabrics to be the backing for the center of this quilt. If I can find something big enough, I'll use one fabric for all the borders. Off to my stash. Time for cutting batting, and picking fabrics = 1 hour.

Part II later.