Week 5 - Round Trip Quilt Sew Along
May 29, 2024 - 9:41pm
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It's time to get these quilt tops pieced!
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Don’t forget to post a pic of your Round Trip blocks to IG and be sure to the use the #roundtripSAL and #roundtripquilt hashtags to make it easier for me and others to find your photos.
QUILTING
I have quilted my Round Trip quilts in a couple of different ways. The first quilt I made was done by stitching ¼" either side of the seams and continuing these lines through the blocks. I think this looks really modern and suits the style of the quilt.
For my vintage inspired yellow and white version I have taken the plunge and decided to hand quilt using perle 8 thread. First up I basted the quilt as usual and then machine quilted in the ditch to secure the blocks. A Hera marker was used to mark the ¼" lines for the hand quilting.
The needle that I prefer to use is a Jeana Kimball embroidery/redwork size 9 and to be honest I use the needles for everything. Binding, sock mending, anything!
My Liberty Round Trip quilt was quilted the same way as the original. I used Aurifil 40wt in one of my favourite colours Dove, 2600. This is a great colour especially when your have a grey background colour as it dosen't show up too much on the lighter fabrics.
With my third super scrappy version I decided to try a quilting method I hadn't used for a very long time. Wavy lines using a walking foot. These are done pretty loosely and to be honest I really enjoyed not having to be so accurate. Straight lines can be intense so this is so much more relaxing!
Jeni Baker has a great YouTube video about this technique if you're interested.
How To Quilt Wavy Lines With a Walking Foot
Below I have added some basic information on quilting that I previously included in my sew alongs.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
As this is the last newsletter, I thought I might talk a little about quilting. I love to use straight lines in all my quilts and I have discovered a few things that might help you too!
Firstly, what you'll need:
Walking Foot for your machine - you may have to purchase this separately as most machines don't come with one, unless you’re a lucky duck and have bought a quilting edition - sometimes they include these as part of the package.
A walking food basically does the same thing as the feed dogs on your machine, except from above. It helps to feed the three layers of your quilt through evenly so that the fabric doesn’t bunch up.
40wt Thread - now this is just what I like to quilt with, so if you prefer something else, go for it! I like it because it's a little stronger and it also makes the quilting a bit more of a feature. I like to use Aurifil Thread, 100% cotton.
Basting Spray and/or Safety Pins for basting - I like to use both. I don't have a large sewing table to work on so all the help I can get, I take!
The safety pins are stainless steel, size 2. There are some fancy curved pins on the market which are great too. The basting spray is called 505 Temporary Adhesive. I like this brand as it has hardly any smell and stays stuck!
Hera Marker - A Hera marker is an awesome piece of plastic that allows you to mark your quilt without using a pencil/washout marker. The Hera marker places a fold in the fabric when your quilt top is basted that stays for a good amount of time. I love it because there is no need to wash out line markings afterwards. Just use your quilting ruler to get lovely straight lines.
BASTING
The first thing you’ll need to do is baste your quilt. Once you have pieced your backing, lay it down with the right side to the floor. Some people baste on their kitchen table, some on the wall and others on their dining room or lounge room floor. It’s totally up to you!
I lay my quilt backing on my lounge room floor and tape down the edges to keep the backing taut. Then I layer the batting on top and baste it to the backing using the basting spray. Next, I layer the quilt top, right side up and baste it to the batting and backing.
Finally, I plonk myself down in the middle of the quilt and start pinning from the centre out, every 3 inches of so!
Imagine this photo below with evenly spaced safety pins instead of a 5 year old child although he is very good at keeping them flat and together.
QUILTING
After you’ve basted your quilt, you need to do is increase the stitch length on your machine. I usually sew using a 2.2 length and then up it to 2.8 when quilting. My machine is a Bernina, so check yours as every machine is different.
The Balderdash quilt above has been quilted with ¾" spaced lines.
The best way to explain how I do this is with a diagram.
My approach for this quilt was to begin in the middle of the quilt. I quilted the first red line (marked with 1 on the diagram) and then continued sewing the rest of the red lines to the right hand side of the quilt.
Then I went back and quilted all of the yellow lines in between the red lines. Once all the yellow lines were done I went back and did the blue lines.
The idea is that the red lines anchor the quilt. Then you go back and fill in the gaps. If you tried to do the ¾" quilting from the first row, your quilt would end up distorted and no-one wants that!
Just remember, after you’ve completed all the red lines, you need to flip the quilt around, so you’re quilting from the other side and working from the middle to the right, before you go back and do the yellow, blue and green lines.
To get the quilt into position to feed through the sewing machine you need to roll it up. It makes it must easier to handle and to fit through the throat of your sewing machine. See the pictures below.
Please note the space at the end of the table, this allows the quilt to hang off the end as it passes through rather than getting bunched up.
If you want to tackle the ¼" lines like I did in my first quilt This is done in the same way as the previous quilt. Start with your anchor lines of quilting and then go back and slowly fill in the gaps.
Please note that my lines are not perfect, they never are. I wobble and move around with the best of them, but the wonderful thing about this style of quilting is it doesn't matter. Once it’s all done you notice the effect - not how straight the lines are.
If you’re not comfortable quilting using just the force, that's where the fabulous Hera Marker comes in handy. This white piece of plastic creates a fold or indentation on the fabric that lasts for ages.
Using your quilting ruler to keep the lines straight, run the Hera Marker along the fabric pushing down firmly. You’ll see that it leaves an indentation on your quilt which you can use as your guide for when you’re quilting. I used it in the quilt below.
Just note, I did all the anchor lines first so I could then remove the pins. It makes it much easier to place a ruler on the quilt once the pins are gone. I also mark up with the Hera Marker on the floor. It's a bit hard on the back but unless you have a large table (I don't) the floor is the best option.
My plan was to share with you all a finished quilt top this week but the stars did not align so please imagine these rows sewn together.
Power outages at school and extra shifts at my other job just didn't leave much time for sewing.
I will have a good go at it this weekend and hopefully knock it over and maybe even get it quilted.
